Broadcasting telematics data to nearby mobile devices, vehicles, and infrastructure

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method of generating and broadcasting telematics and/or image data is provided. Telematics and/or image data may be collected, with customer permission, in real-time by a mobile device (or a Telematics App running thereon) traveling within an originating vehicle. The telematics data may include acceleration, braking, speed, heading, and location data associated with the originating vehicle. The mobile device may generate an updated telematics data broadcast including up-to-date telematics data at least every few seconds; and then broadcast the updated telematics data broadcast at least every few seconds via wireless communication to another computing device to facilitate alerting another vehicle or driver of an abnormal traffic condition or event that the originating vehicle is experiencing. An amount that an insured uses or otherwise employs the telematics data-based risk mitigation or prevention functionality may be used with usage-based insurance, or to calculate or adjust insurance premiums or discounts.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. Pat.Application Serial No. 16/703,253, filed Dec. 4, 2019, and entitled“Broadcasting Telematics Data to Nearby Mobile Devices, Vehicles, andInfrastructure, “which is a continuation of, and claims priority to,U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 16/002,045, filed Jun. 7, 2018 andentitled “Broadcasting Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile ComputingDevices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” which is a continuation of andclaims priority to U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 15/787,293, filedOct. 10, 2017 and entitled “Broadcasting Telematics Data To NearbyMobile Computing Devices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. Pat. Application Serial No.14/989,950, entitled “Broadcasting Telematics Data to Nearby MobileDevices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure” and filed Jan. 7, 2016 (now U.S.Pat. No. 9,832,241), which claims the benefit of (1) U.S. ProvisionalPat. Application No. 62/105,468, entitled “Broadcasting Telematics DataTo Nearby Mobile Computing Devices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filedJan. 20, 2015, (2) U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/113,749,entitled “Broadcasting Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile ComputingDevices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filed Feb. 9, 2015, (3) U.S.Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/204,749, entitled “BroadcastingTelematics Data To Nearby Mobile Computing Devices, Vehicles, andInfrastructure,” filed Aug. 13, 2015, (4) U.S. Provisional Pat.Application No. 62/207,561, entitled “Generating Alert Notifications ByBroadcasting Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile Computing Devices,Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filed Aug. 20, 2015, (5) U.S. ProvisionalPat. Application No. 62/232,035 entitled “Generating Alert NotificationsBy Broadcasting Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile Computing Devices,Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (6) U.S. ProvisionalPat. Application No. 62/232,045, entitled “Generating AlertNotifications By Broadcasting Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile ComputingDevices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (7) U.S.Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/232,050, entitled “DeterminingAbnormal Traffic Conditions From A Broadcast Of Telematics DataOriginating From Another Vehicle,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (8) U.S.Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/232,054, entitled “Taking CorrectiveAction Based Upon Telematics Data Broadcast From Another Vehicle,” filedSep. 24, 2015, (9) U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/232,065,entitled “Analyzing Telematics Broadcast To Determine Travel Events andCorrective Actions,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (10) U.S. Provisional Pat.Application No. 62/232,075, entitled “Providing Insurance DiscountsBased Upon Usage Of Telematics Data-Based Risk Mitigation And PreventionFunctionality,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (11) U.S. Provisional Pat.Application No. 62/232,083, entitled “Determining Corrective ActionsBased Upon Broadcast Of Telematics Data Originating From AnotherVehicle,” filed Sep. 24, 2015, (12) U.S. Provisional Pat. ApplicationNo. 62/232,090, entitled “Determining Corrective Actions Based UponTelematics Data Broadcast From Another Vehicle,” filed Sep. 24, 2015,(13) U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/232,097, entitled“Generating Alert Notifications By Broadcasting Train Telematics Data ToNearby Mobile Computing Devices, Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filedSep. 24, 2015, (14) U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/247,334,entitled “Generating Alert Notifications By Broadcasting TrainTelematics Data To Nearby Mobile Computing Devices, Vehicles, andInfrastructure,” filed Oct. 28, 2015, and (15) U.S. Provisional Pat.Application No. 62/250,286, entitled “Generating Alert Notifications ByBroadcasting Train Telematics Data To Nearby Mobile Computing Devices,Vehicles, and Infrastructure,” filed Nov. 3, 2015. The disclosure ofeach of the aforementioned applications is hereby expressly incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to generating alertnotifications and, more particularly, to generating alert notificationsbased upon transmitting and collecting telematics data for use by otherdrivers.

BACKGROUND

Conventional telematics devices may collect certain types of dataregarding vehicle operation. However, conventional telematics devicesand data gathering techniques may have several drawbacks.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect, telematics data and/or geographic location data may becollected, monitored, measured, and/or generated by one or morecomputing devices associated with a vehicle. The telematics data mayinclude various metrics that indicate the direction, speed, and/ormotion of the vehicle in which the data is associated. The geographiclocation data may include a geographic location of the vehicle, such aslatitude and longitude coordinates, for example. The one or morecomputing devices may include a mobile computing device positionedwithin the vehicle, an on-board computer integrated within the vehicle,and/or a combination of these devices working in conjunction with oneanother. The one or more computing devices may broadcast the telematicsdata and/or the geographic location data to one or more other devices.

The telematics data and/or the geographic location data may be receivedand/or processed by one or more other computing devices to determinewhether an anomalous condition exists, such as a traffic accident, forexample. These one or more other computing devices may be externalcomputing devices (e.g., a remote server), another mobile computingdevice, a smart traffic infrastructure device (e.g., a smart trafficlight), etc. If an anomalous condition is detected, the geographiclocation of the vehicle associated with the telematics data may be usedas a condition to decide whether to generate an alert at (or send analert notification to) the one or more other computing devicesassociated with nearby vehicles.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of generating andbroadcasting telematics data may be provided. The method may include (1)generating or collecting telematics data at, or by, a originating orsource mobile device associated with a driver (or an associatedprocessor), the originating mobile device: (i) having a TelematicsApplication (or “App”) installed or stored locally in a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory unit, and (ii) is associated with a seconddriver, the telematics data including acceleration, braking, speed,heading, and location data associated with the operation of anoriginating vehicle. The method may include (2) generating, at or by theoriginating mobile device (or associated processor) or the TelematicsApp, an updated telematics data broadcast (or wireless communication)including up-to-date telematics data at least every few seconds; and/or(3) broadcasting, at or by the origination mobile device (or anassociated transceiver) or the Telematics App. The updated telematicsdata may be broadcast at least every few seconds via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission (or otherwise via a secureelectronic communication network requiring login credential electronicverification) to other computing devices (e.g., nearby vehicles, mobiledevices, smart infrastructure, or remote servers) to facilitate theother computing devices (i) determining that an abnormal travelcondition (or traffic event) exists from the analysis of the telematicsdata received from the originating mobile device having the TelematicsApp, and (ii) when the abnormal travel condition (or traffic event)exists, automatically taking a preventive or corrective action, such asat or via a destination mobile device or smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor), that alleviates a negative impact of the abnormaltravel condition (or traffic event) on the driver and/or the destinationvehicle. As a result, safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel may beachieved.

The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein, and/or may be implemented by one ormore processors, and/or via computer-executable instructions stored onnon-transitory computer-readable medium or media. For instance, theTelematics App, and/or the telematics data generated by the TelematicsApp on the originating mobile device, may indicate that the originatingvehicle is experiencing high traffic conditions, congestion, roadconstruction, or extreme weather conditions, such as from analysis ofthe telematics data. The telematics data may include speed,acceleration, deceleration, GPS location, lane information, and/or otherdata of, or associated with, the originating vehicle. Additionally oralternatively, the telematics data may include time, braking,acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global PositioningSystem) speed, GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level,and/or telephone usage information or data of, or associated with, theoriginating vehicle.

The preventive or corrective action taken by the destination mobiledevice or vehicle may be: (1) generating or determining an alert, at orvia the destination mobile device or smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor); (2) presenting a visual alert, at or via adestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller, on a display ordisplay screen associated with the destination mobile device or smartvehicle controller, respectively; and/or (3) providing an audio oraudible alert, at or via a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller (or an associated processor). Additionally or alternatively,the preventive or corrective action taken may be: (i) generating,determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids aGPS location of the travel or traffic event, at or via a destinationmobile device or smart vehicle controller; (ii) presenting thealternative travel route, at or via the destination mobile device orsmart vehicle controller, on a display or display screen for use by thedriver; and/or (iii) providing audio driving directions for thedestination vehicle or driver to travel along the alternate route.

The telematics data may be generated and/or collected by the originatingmobile device (and/or the Telematics App executing thereon). Thetelematics data may be (1) transmitted from a transceiver mounted on, orwithin, the originating mobile device indirectly or directly to adestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller via peer-to-peer(P2P) wireless communication and/or data transmission, or via a secureelectronic communication network; (2) transmitted from the originatingmobile device directly (or indirectly) to a remote server (such as aninsurance provider remote server), and then relayed or transmitted fromthe remote server to a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller via wireless communication and/or data transmission; and/or(3) transmitted from the originating mobile device directly (orindirectly) to smart infrastructure (such as a smart stop sign, smartstreet sign, smart toll both, and/or smart road-side equipment, markers,or reflectors), and then relayed or transmitted from the smartinfrastructure to a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller via wireless communication or data transmission. Thetelematics data may be transmitted over a secure electronic or wirelesscommunication network.

The computer-implemented method may also include, with customerpermission or affirmative consent, (i) determining or identifying, byone or more processors associated with an insurance provider remoteserver, an insured customer having a mobile device configured with thetelematics data-based risk mitigation or prevention functionalitydiscussed herein and/or the Telematics App; (ii) monitoring, by the oneor more processors associated with the remote server, a time amountand/or mileage amount that the insured customer drives an insuredvehicle with the telematics data-based risk mitigation or preventionfunctionality discussed herein, or the Telematics App, enabled and/orexecuting on their mobile device; and/or (iii) adjusting or modifying,by the one or more processors associated with the remote server, aninsurance policy, premium, or discount for the insured customer basedupon their usage and/or amount that they use or employ the telematicsdata-based risk mitigation or prevention functionality and/or TelematicsApp, such as generating a usage-based discount that is tied to an amountthat the telematics data-based risk mitigation or preventionfunctionality (including generating, collecting, and/or broadcasting(and/or even receiving) telematics data as discussed herein, and/orgenerating appropriate alerts or recommendations from the telematicsdata) is used or otherwise employed.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics(and/or other) data may be provided. The method may include one or moreprocessors of an originating mobile computing device (1) generating orcollecting telematics data via an originating mobile computing deviceassociated with a driver driving an originating vehicle, the telematicsdata including data indicative of a location and operation of theoriginating vehicle; (2) generating updated telematics data in arecurring periodic manner such that the updated telematics data includesup-to-date data with respect to changes in the location and operation ofthe originating vehicle; and (3) broadcasting, the updated telematicsdata broadcast in a recurring periodic manner to facilitate alertinganother vehicle or driver of an abnormal traffic condition or event thatthe originating vehicle is experiencing. The method may includeadditional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussedelsewhere herein, and/or may be implemented by one or more processors,and/or via computer-executable instructions stored on non-transitorycomputer-readable medium or media.

In another aspect, an originating mobile computing device (or “mobiledevice”, such as smart phone, tablet, smart watch, or wearableelectronics) may be provided. The originating mobile computing devicemay be configured to collect, generate, and/or transmit telematics data.The originating mobile computing device may include (1) a sensor arrayconfigured to collect telematics data including acceleration, braking,gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-relateddata; (2) a memory unit configured to store computer readableinstructions thereon including a telematics application; and (3) aprocessor interconnected or in communication with the sensor array, thememory unit, and a communication unit, the processor upon beingconfigured to execute the telematics application to (i) receive thetelematics data from the sensory array, and (ii) to cause thecommunication unit to broadcast the telematics data in accordance with aperiodic recurring schedule as a telematics broadcast, the telematicsdata being updated to include changes in the acceleration, braking,gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-relateddata. The telematics data, upon being received by another computingdevice, may facilitate safer travel for another vehicle or driver basedupon computer analysis of the telematics data contained within thebroadcast. The mobile device may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

In still another aspect, an originating mobile computing device may beprovided, which may be configured for telematics data collection,generation, and/or transmission. The originating mobile computing devicemay include one or more processors and a memory, which may have atelematics application stored thereon. The one or more processors may beconfigured to execute the telematics application to (1) collect orgenerate telematics data as an originating vehicle is traveling, thetelematics data including acceleration, braking, gyroscope, compassheading, turning, speed, and/or location-related data; (2) generate atelematics broadcast that incorporates the telematics data; (3)broadcast the telematics broadcast in accordance with a periodicrecurring schedule, the telematics data being updated in each telematicsbroadcast to include changes in the acceleration, braking, gyroscope,compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-related date. Uponbeing received by other vehicles, mobile computing devices, and roadsideinfrastructure, the telematics data may facilitate safer travel forother vehicles or drivers based upon computer analysis of the telematicsdata contained within the broadcast via destination devices associatedwith the respective vehicles, mobile computing devices, and roadsideinfrastructure performing computer analysis of the telematics data.

Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following description of the preferred embodiments which have beenshown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, thepresent embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments,and their details are capable of modification in various respects.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Figures described below depict various aspects of the system andmethods disclosed therein. It should be understood that each Figuredepicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed system andmethods, and that each of the Figures is intended to accord with apossible embodiment thereof. Further, wherever possible, the followingdescription refers to the reference numerals included in the followingFigures, in which features depicted in multiple Figures are designatedwith consistent reference numerals.

There are shown in the drawings arrangements which are presentlydiscussed, it being understood, however, that the present embodimentsare not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown,wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary telematics collectionsystem 100 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary alert notificationsystem 200 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computing device 300in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary mobile computing device home screen 400in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary mobile computing device applicationscreen 450 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method 500 of generating, displaying,and/or sending an alert based upon telematics data in accordance with anexemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method 600 of generating telematicsand/or other data at a source mobile device/vehicle, and/or broadcastingthe data to other computing devices to facilitate safer driving;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method 700 receiving and analyzingtelematics and/or other data at a destination mobile device/vehicle tofacilitate safer driving;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary method 800 receiving and analyzingtelematics and/or other data at an intermediary computing device, suchas a remote server/smart infrastructure, and/or broadcasting the data toother computing devices to facilitate safer driving;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary smart vehicle controlsystem 900 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary computer-implemented method 1000 ofperiodically broadcasting telematics data and other data from anoriginating mobile computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustrationonly. Alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustratedherein may be employed without departing from the principles of theinvention described herein.

The present embodiments relate to, inter alia, determining whether ananomalous condition is detected at the location of a vehicle using oneor more computing devices within or otherwise associated with thevehicle. If the detected anomalous condition may impact or affectanother vehicle on the road, embodiments are described to generateand/or send alert notifications to other vehicles that may be soaffected. As further described throughout the disclosure, the process ofdetecting anomalous conditions and whether they apply to other vehiclesmay be performed through an analysis geographic location data and/ortelematics data broadcasted from one or more computing devices within orotherwise associated with one or more respective vehicles.

The present embodiments may relate to collecting, transmitting, and/orreceiving telematics data; and may include a mobile device, avehicle-mounted processor, computer server, web pages, applications,software modules, user interfaces, interactive display screens, memoryunits, and/or other electronic, electrical, and/or wirelesscommunication equipment configured to provide the functionalitydiscussed herein. As compared with the prior art, the presentembodiments include specifically configured computing equipment thatprovide for an enhanced method of collecting telematics and/or othervehicle/driving conditions related data, and performing certain actionsbased upon the data collected. Using the telematics and/or other datacollected, in conjunction with the novel techniques discussed herein,recommendations and/or travel/driving guidance may be provided to remotevehicles and/or drivers.

The present embodiments may solve one or more technical problems relatedto (1) vehicle safety, and/or (2) vehicle navigation by using solutionsor improvements in another technological field, namely telematics.Vehicle safety and vehicle navigation is often impacted by short-termtraffic events that occur with little or no warning. For instance,vehicle accidents may be caused by road construction, other vehicleaccidents, traffic being temporarily re-routed, unexpected bad weather,other drivers or vehicles, etc.

To address these and other problems, telematics data (and/or driverbehavior or vehicle information) may be captured in real-time, or nearreal-time, by a mobile device of a vehicle driver (or passenger). Themobile device may be specifically configured for gathering, collecting,and/or generating telematics and/or other data as a vehicle istraveling.

For instance, the mobile device may be equipped with (i) various sensorsand/or meters capable of generating telematics data (GPS unit, speedsensor, speedometer, odometer, gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, etc.)and/or (ii) an application, such as a Telematics Data Application orTelematics “App,” that includes computer instructions and/or softwaremodules stored in a non-transitory memory unit that control collectingand generating telematics and/or other data. The mobile device and/orthe application (or Telematics App) may provide a software module, userinterface, and/or interactive display screen configured to facilitatethe data collection. The mobile device and/or Telematics App executingthereon may be configured to prepare or otherwise format the telematicsand/or other data collected or generated for transmission (via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission) to a mobile device of a seconddriver, a remote server, another (smart) vehicle, and/or smartinfrastructure - all of which may be equipped with its own TelematicsApp or other telematics related applications. The Telematics App mayinclude other functionality, including the mobile device functionalitydiscussed elsewhere herein.

Alternatively, the mobile device may remotely access a web page, such asvia wireless communication with a remote server. The web page mayprovide the mobile device with the functionality to collect thetelematics and/or other data as the vehicle is moving. Additionally oralternatively, the web page may allow the mobile device to upload ortransmit data in real-time, or near real-time, to a mobile device of asecond driver, a remote server, smart infrastructure, and/or another(smart) vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, a smart vehicle controller or processormay be configured with the same functionality as that of the mobiledevice described above. For instance, a smart vehicle controller mayinclude an application, software module, or computer instructions thatprovide for the telematics and/or other data collection and generationfunctionality discussed herein. The smart vehicle controller may be inwired or wireless communication with various (“smart” or “dumb”)vehicle-mounted meters, sensors, and/or detectors, such as speedometers,speed sensors, compasses, gyros, accelerometers, etc. that collectand/or generate telematics data and/or other data detailing orassociated with vehicle operation, and/or driving or driver behavior.

In one aspect, by solving problems with collecting telematics dataand/or other data associated with driver behavior and/or vehicleoperation or performance, problems with vehicle navigation and/orvehicle operation may be resolved. For instance, telematics dataassociated with a first vehicle may be collected in real-time by amobile device of a first driver. The mobile device may be specificallyconfigured to gather or generate telematics and/or other driver/vehicledata in real-time as the vehicle is traveling, such as via a TelematicsApp running on the mobile device. If a traffic event is encountered,about to be encountered, and/or expected or anticipated to beencountered by the vehicle as it travels (e.g., road construction; heavytraffic; congestion; bad weather conditions; unlawful, unexpected orerratic operation of other vehicles; questionable or abnormal drivingbehavior of other drivers; irresponsible or overly aggressive drivers;un-attentive or tired drivers, etc.), the telematics (and/or data) datacollected may indicate such.

The mobile device itself (and/or Telematics App) may be configured toidentify the type of traffic event and transmit the type of trafficevent to other mobile devices, a remote server, smart vehicles, and/orsmart infrastructure. In one embodiment, the mobile device (and/orTelematics App) may be in wireless communication with a smart vehiclecontrol system of the vehicle, and the smart vehicle control system maytransmit the telematics and/or other data, and/or any associatedwarnings, to a remote server, and/or roadside smart infrastructure ornearby mobile device or vehicles of other drivers (such as to conservebattery power of the mobile device).

Alternatively, the mobile device (and/or Telematics App) may transmitthe telematics and/or other data collected via wireless communicationand/or data transmission to a second computing device - such as a secondmobile device (or another driver), a second and smart vehicle, a remoteserver, and/or road side infrastructure (smart street signs or roadposts, smart toll booths, etc.). After which, the second and remotecomputing device may analyze the telematics and/or other data that iscollected in real-time, or near real-time, to determine traffic eventsin real-time, or near real-time, respectively. Based upon the type andextent of traffic event detected, the second computing device may issuewarnings, determine recommendations, and/or re-route vehicles. Forinstance, the second computing device may cause a display screen or userinterface of a mobile device or smart vehicle controller of remotedrivers to display a map with (1) a current route that the vehicle ison, (2) a virtual representation of the traffic event, and/or (3) analternate or recommended new route to an original destination thatavoids the traffic event.

In one embodiment, a telematics application or software module (e.g.,the Telematics App as discussed herein) may be designed to communicatewith smart vehicles and smart infrastructure. An advantage of this isthat for a vehicle owner that does not have a “smart” vehicle withwireless communication technology, the application and/or softwaremodule deployed on a smart phone or other mobile device may communicatewith smart vehicles and infrastructure (and/or remote servers and othermobile devices). The telematics application and/or software module maybe programmed to provide voice alerts: such as on a two lane road “donot pass-a vehicle is approaching” or “high speed vehicle is approachingto your left (or right);” “traffic light will turn in 10 seconds;” “turnleft to find an open parking space;” “traffic is stopped 1.5 milesahead;” “traffic has slowed to 20 mph 1.5 miles (or 2 blocks) ahead;”“recommended speed for turn ahead is 30 mph;” and/or “ice on bridge (orramp) ahead.”

As an example, a first mobile device may be traveling in a vehicle. Thefirst mobile device may collect telematics data and/or other data, suchas via a telematics application running on one or more processorsmounted within the first mobile device. The first mobile device (and/orthe telematics application) may detect a travel event from the datacollected. For instance, the first mobile device (and/or the telematicsapplication executing thereon) may determine that the vehicle is locatedon the highway, but the vehicle is moving slower than the posted speedlimit. The first mobile device (and/or the telematics application) maythen transmit the data collected and/or an associated message viawireless communication or data transmission to smart roadsideinfrastructure and/or nearby vehicles (or a second mobile devicetraveling within a nearby and second vehicle). The second mobile device(and/or a telematics application running thereon) may then, using thedata received and/or message received from the first mobile device,generate an audible or visual warning or alert of the travel event, suchas “Warning, congestion ahead,” and/or “Recommend taking Exit 10 andtraveling on Highway 12 for 5 miles until Exit 11 to avoid thecongestion ahead.” The second mobile device (and/or associatedtelematics application) may also be able to compare locations of thetravel event with the current location of the second vehicle todetermine if the travel event poses a potential obstacle to the secondvehicle reaching its destination without interruption. Thus, thetelematics data collected using a first mobile device (and/or atelematics application) and associated with a first driver may be usedto alert a second driver (associated with the second mobile device) of atravel event and/or re-route the second vehicle to facilitate safervehicle travel for the second driver and vehicle.

In one aspect, a mobile device (and/or the telematics application) maycompare a vehicle’s traveling speed with a known posted speed limit. Ifthe vehicle’s speed is below or above the posted speed by a certainthreshold, for example, 10 or 20 miles-per-hour, then the mobile devicemay generate a warning and transmit the warning to roadsideinfrastructure and/or nearby mobile devices or vehicles. For example,the message may state “Slow moving vehicle in right hand lane ahead;”“High speed vehicle approaching from rear;” And/or “High speed vehicleapproaching from ahead.”

Other messages or alerts that may be generated from mobile devices(and/or telematics applications executing thereon), smart vehiclecontrollers, remote servers, and/or smart infrastructure and transmittedto a mobile device of a driver (and/or smart vehicle) may include“Construction 1 mile ahead;” “Rain (or Snow) 5 miles ahead;” “Detour 2blocks ahead;” “Traffic light directly ahead will change from Green toRed starting in 5 seconds;” “Stranded vehicle on right side of road halfa mile ahead;” “Recommend turning right at next intersection to avoidtravel event 3 blocks ahead;” and/or other travel or trafficevent-related messages.

An insurance provider may collect an insured’s usage of the vehiclesafety functionality provided herein, such as at an insurance providerremote server and/or via a mobile device application. Based upon anindividual’s usage and/or taking travel recommendations, such as travelrecommendations that reduce or lower risk and/or enhance driver orvehicle safety, insurance policies (such as vehicle or life insurancepolicies) may be adjusted, generated, and/or updated. The insuranceprovider remote server may calculate, update, and/or adjust insurancepremiums, rates, discounts, points, programs, etc., such as adjusting aninsurance discount or premium based upon the insured having thefunctionality discussed herein and/or the amount that the insured usesthe functionality discussed herein. The updated insurance policies(and/or premiums, rates, discounts, etc.) may be communicated toinsurance customers for their review, modification, and/or approval -such as via wireless communication or data transmission from a remoteserver to a mobile device or the insured.

Telematics and Vehicle Navigation

In one aspect, by solving problems with collecting telematics dataand/or other data associated with driver behavior and/or vehicleoperation or performance, problems with vehicle navigation and/orvehicle operation may be resolved. For instance, telematics dataassociated with a first vehicle may be collected in real-time by amobile device of a first driver. The mobile device may be specificallyconfigured to gather or generate telematics and/or other driver/vehicledata in real-time as the vehicle is traveling. If a traffic event isencountered, about to be encountered, and/or expected or anticipated tobe encountered by the vehicle as it travels (e.g., road construction;heavy traffic; congestion; bad weather conditions; unlawful, unexpectedor erratic operation of other vehicles; questionable or abnormal drivingbehavior of other drivers; irresponsible or overly aggressive drivers;un-attentive or tired drivers, etc.), the telematics (and/or data) datacollected may indicate such.

The mobile device itself may be configured to identify the type oftraffic event and transmit the type of traffic event to other mobiledevices, a remote server, smart vehicles, and/or smart infrastructure.In one embodiment, the mobile device may be in wireless communicationwith a smart vehicle control system of the vehicle, and the smartvehicle control system may transmit the telematics and/or other data,and/or any associated warnings, to a remote server, and/or roadsidesmart infrastructure or nearby mobile device or vehicles of otherdrivers (such as to conserve battery power of the mobile device).

Additionally or alternatively, the mobile device may transmit thetelematics and/or other data collected via wireless communication and/ordata transmission to a second computing device - such as a second mobiledevice (or another driver), a second and smart vehicle, a remote server,and/or road side infrastructure (smart street signs or road posts, smarttoll booths, etc.). After which, the second and remote computing devicemay analyze the telematics and/or other data that is collected inreal-time, or near real-time, to determine traffic events in real-time,or near real-time, respectively. Based upon the type and extent oftraffic event detected, the second computing device may issue warnings,determine recommendations, and/or re-route vehicles. For instance, thesecond computing device may cause a display screen or user interface ofa mobile device or smart vehicle controller of remote drivers to displaya map with (1) a current route that the vehicle is on, (2) a virtualrepresentation of the traffic event, and/or (3) an alternate orrecommended new route to an original destination that avoids the trafficevent.

Exemplary Telematics Collection System

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary telematics collectionsystem 100 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure. In some aspects, telematics collection system 100 mayinclude hardware and software applications configured to measure,calculate, generate, and/or collect geographic location data and/ortelematics data indicative of the speed, direction, and/or motion ofvehicle 108. Additionally or alternatively, telematics collection system100 may include hardware and software applications configured to receiveand process geographic location data and/or telematics data sent fromanother telematics collection system, to determine whether an anomalouscondition has been detected, whether to generate an alert, and/orwhether to send an alert notification. Telematics collection system 100may include various data communication channels for facilitating datacommunications between the various hardware and software componentsand/or communications with one or more external components.

To accomplish this, telematics collection system 100 may include anysuitable number of computing devices, such as mobile computing device110 and/or on-board computing device 114, for example. These computingdevices may be disposed within vehicle 108, permanently installed invehicle 108, or removably installed in vehicle 108.

In the present aspects, mobile computing device 110 may be implementedas any suitable computing or mobile device, such as a mobile device(e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, wearable electronics, phablet, pager,personal digital assistant (PDA), smart glasses, smart watch orbracelet, etc.), while on-board computer may implemented as ageneral-use on-board computer or processor(s) installed by themanufacturer of vehicle 108 or as an aftermarket modification to vehicle108, for example. In various aspects, mobile computing device 110 and/oron-board computer 114 may be a thin-client device configured tooutsource any suitable portion of processing via communications with oneor more external components.

On-board computer 114 may supplement one or more functions performed bymobile computing device 110 described herein by, for example, sendinginformation to and/or receiving information from mobile computing device110. Mobile computing device 110 and/or on-board computer 114 maycommunicate with one or more external components via links 112 and 118,respectively. Additionally, mobile computing device 110 and on-boardcomputer 114 may communicate with one another directly via link 116.

In one aspect, mobile computing device 110 may be configured withsuitable hardware and/or software (e.g., one or more applications,programs, files, etc.) to determine a geographic location of mobilecomputing device 110 and, hence, vehicle 108, in which it is positioned.Additionally or alternatively, mobile computing device 110 may beconfigured with suitable hardware and/or software to monitor, measure,generate, and/or collect one or more sensor metrics as part of thetelematics data. Mobile computing device 110 may be configured tobroadcast the geographic location data and/or the one or more sensormetrics to one or more external components.

In some aspects, the external components may include another mobilecomputing device substantially similar to or identical to mobilecomputing device 110. In accordance with such aspects, mobile computingdevice 110 may additionally or alternatively be configured to receivegeographic location data and/or sensor metrics broadcasted from anothermobile computing device, the details of which are further discussedbelow. Mobile computing device 110 may be configured to determine, uponreceiving the geographic location data and/or sensor metrics, whether ananomalous condition exists at the geographic location indicated by thegeographic location data. If so, mobile computing device 110 may beconfigured to generate one or more audio and/or video alerts indicativeof the determined anomalous condition.

On-board computer 114 may be configured to perform one or more functionsotherwise performed by mobile computing device 110. However, on-boardcomputer 114 may additionally be configured to obtain geographiclocation data and/or telematics data by communicating with one or morevehicle sensors that are integrated into vehicle 108. For example,on-board computer 114 may obtain geographic location data viacommunication with a vehicle-integrated global navigation satellitesystem (GNSS). To provide additional examples, on-board computer 114 mayobtain one or more metrics related to the speed, direction, and/ormotion of vehicle 108 via any number of suitable sensors, such asspeedometer sensors, braking sensors, airbag deployment sensors, crashdetection sensors, etc.

In one aspect, mobile computing device 110 and/or on-board computer 114may operate independently of one another to generate geographic locationdata and/or telematics data, to receive geographic location data and/ortelematics data broadcasted from another telematics collection system,to determine whether to generate one or more alerts, and/or to generateone or more alert notifications. In accordance with such aspects,telematics collection system 100 may include mobile computing device 110but not on-board computer 114, and vice-versa.

In other aspects, mobile computing device 110 and/or on-board computer114 may operate in conjunction with one another to generate geographiclocation data and/or telematics data, to receive geographic locationdata and/or telematics data broadcasted from another telematicscollection system, to determine whether to generate one or more alerts,and to generate one or more alert notifications. In accordance with suchaspects, telematics collection system 100 may include both mobilecomputing device 110 and on-board computer 114. Mobile computing device110 and on-board computer 114 may share any suitable portion ofprocessing between one another to facilitate the functionality describedherein.

Upon receiving notification alerts from another telematics collectionsystem, aspects include telematics collection system 100 generatingalerts via any suitable audio, video, and/or tactile techniques. Forexample, alerts may be generated via a display implemented by mobilecomputing device 110 and/or on-board computer 114. To provide anotherexample, a tactile alert system 120 (e.g., a seat that can vibrate) maybe configured to generate tactile alerts to a vehicle operator 106 whencommanded by mobile computing device 110 and/or on-board computer 114.To provide another example, audible alerts may be generated via aspeaker 122, which may be part of vehicle 108’s integrated speakersystem, for example.

Although telematics collection system 100 is shown in FIG. 1 asincluding one mobile computing device 110 and one on-board computer 114,various aspects include telematics collection system 100 implementingany suitable number of mobile computing devices 110 and/or on-boardcomputers 114.

Exemplary Telematics Alert Notification System

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary alert notificationsystem 200 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure. In one aspect, alert notification system 200 may include anetwork 201, N number of vehicles 202.1-202.N and respective mobilecomputing devices 204.1-204.N, an external computing device 206, and/oran infrastructure component 208. In one aspect, mobile computing devices204 may be an implementation of mobile computing device 110, as shown inFIG. 1 , while vehicles 202 may be an implementation of vehicle 108,also shown in FIG. 1 . Each of vehicles 202.1 and 202.2 may have anassociated on-board computer, which is not shown in FIG. 2 for purposesof brevity, but may be an implementation of on-board computer 114, asshown in FIG. 1 . Each of vehicles 202.1 and 202.2 may be configured forwireless inter-vehicle communication and/or communication with one ormore of mobile computing devices 204.1-204.N, external computing device206, and/or infrastructure component 208. Aspects include each ofvehicles 202.1 and 202.2 being configured to perform communications inany suitable manner, such as via, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) wirelesscommunication and/or other suitable data transmission.

Although alert notification system 200 is shown in FIG. 2 as includingone network 201, two mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2, twovehicles 202.1 and 202.2, one external computing device 206, and/or oneinfrastructure component 208, various aspects include alert notificationsystem 200 implementing any suitable number of networks 201, mobilecomputing devices 204, vehicles 202, external computing devices 206,and/or infrastructure components 208. For example, alert notificationsystem 200 may include a plurality of external computing devices 206 andmore than two mobile computing devices 204, any suitable number of whichbeing interconnected directly to one another and/or via network 201.

In one aspect, each of mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2 may beconfigured to communicate with one another directly, and/or any suitabledevice, via peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless communication and/or datatransfer, such as external computing device 206 and/or infrastructurecomponent 208, for example. In other aspects, each of mobile computingdevices 204.1 and 204.2 may be configured to communicate indirectly withone another and/or any suitable device via communications over network201, such as external computing device 206 and/or infrastructurecomponent 208, for example. In still other aspects, each of mobilecomputing devices 204.1 and 204.2 may be configured to communicatedirectly and indirectly with one another and/or any suitable device,which may be concurrent communications or communications occurring atseparate times.

Each of mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2 may be configured tosend data to and/or receive data from one another and/or via network 201using one or more suitable communication protocols, which may be thesame communication protocols or different communication protocols as oneanother. To provide an example, mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2may be configured to communicate with one another via a direct radiolink 203 a, which may utilize, for example, a Wi-Fi direct protocol, anad-hoc cellular communication protocol, etc. Furthermore, mobilecomputing devices 204.1 and 204.2 may be configured to communicate withthe vehicle on-board computers located in vehicles 202.1 and 202.1,respectively, utilizing a BLUETOOTH communication protocol (radio linknot shown).

To provide additional examples, mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2may be configured to communicate with one another via radio links 203 band 203 c by each communicating with network 201 utilizing a cellularcommunication protocol. As an additional example, mobile computingdevices 204.1 and/or 204.2 may be configured to communicate withexternal computing device 206 via radio links 203 b, 203 c, and/or 203e. Still further, one or more of mobile computing devices 204.1 and/or204.2 may also be configured to communicate with one or more smartinfrastructure components 208 directly (e.g., via radio link 203 d)and/or indirectly (e.g., via radio links 203 c and 203 f via network201) using any suitable communication protocols.

Mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2 may be configured to executeone or more algorithms, programs, applications, etc., to determine ageographic location of each respective mobile computing device (and thustheir associated vehicle) to generate, measure, monitor, and/or collectone or more sensor metrics as telematics data, to broadcast thegeographic data and/or telematics data via their respective radio links,to receive the geographic data and/or telematics data via theirrespective radio links, to determine whether an alert should begenerated based upon the telematics data and/or the geographic locationdata, to generate the one or more alerts, and/or to broadcast one ormore alert notifications.

Network 201 may be implemented as any suitable network configured tofacilitate communications between mobile computing devices 204.1 and/or204.2 and one or more of external computing device 206 and/or smartinfrastructure component 208. For example, network 201 may include oneor more telecommunication networks, nodes, and/or links used tofacilitate data exchanges between one or more devices, and mayfacilitate a connection to the Internet for devices configured tocommunicate with network 201. Network 201 may include any suitablenumber of interconnected network components that form an aggregatenetwork system, such as dedicated access lines, plain ordinary telephonelines, satellite links, cellular base stations, a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), etc., or any suitable combination thereof.Network 201 may include, for example, a proprietary network, a secureelectronic communication network, a secure public internet, amobile-based network, a virtual private network, etc.

In aspects in which network 201 facilitates a connection to theInternet, data communications may take place over the network 201 viaone or more suitable Internet communication protocols. For example,network 201 may be implemented as a wireless telephony network (e.g.,GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc.), a Wi-Fi network (e.g., via one or more IEEE802.11 Standards), a WiMAX network, a Bluetooth network, etc. Thus,links 203a-203f may represent wired links, wireless links, or anysuitable combination thereof.

In aspects in which mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2 communicatedirectly with one another in a peer-to-peer fashion, network 201 may bebypassed and thus communications between mobile computing devices 204.1and 204.2 and external computing device 206 may be unnecessary. Forexample, in some aspects, mobile computing device 204.1 may broadcastgeographic location data and/or telematics data directly to mobilecomputing device 204.2. In this case, mobile computing device 204.2 mayoperate independently of network 201 to determine whether an alertshould be generated at mobile computing device 204.2 based upon thegeographic location data and the telematics data. In accordance withsuch aspects, network 201 and external computing device 206 may beomitted.

However, in other aspects, one or more of mobile computing devices 204.1and/or 204.2 may work in conjunction with external computing device 206to generate alerts. For example, in some aspects, mobile computingdevice 204.1 may broadcast geographic location data and/or telematicsdata, which is received by external computing device 206. In this case,external computing device 206 may be configured to determine whether analert should be sent to mobile computing device 204.2 based upon thegeographic location data and the telematics data.

To provide an example mobile computing device or mobile device 204.1 maybroadcast telematics data, which is received by mobile computing device204.2 and/or vehicle 202.2. Upon receipt of the telematics data, mobilecomputing device 204.2 and/or vehicle 202.2 may determine that anabnormal traffic condition exists at the location of the originatingvehicle (i.e., the location of mobile computing device 204.1 and vehicle202.1) and/or whether this location is along a route travelled byvehicle 202.2 or is otherwise relevant to vehicle 202.2.

Once this is determined, mobile computing device 204.2 and/or vehicle202.2 may automatically take a preventive or corrective action, whichmay include, for example, mobile computing device 204.2 and/or vehicle202.2 generating or determining an alert, issuing a visual alert,providing an audio or audible alert, identifying an alternate travelroute that avoids the location of the abnormal traffic condition,presenting an alternative travel route on a display or display screenfor use by a driver of vehicle 202.2, providing audio driving directionsfor the driver of vehicle 202.2 to travel along the alternate route,etc.

External computing device 206 may be configured to execute varioussoftware applications, algorithms, and/or other suitable programs.External computing device 206 may be implemented as any suitable type ofdevice to facilitate the functionality as described herein. For example,external computing device 206 may be implemented as a network server, aweb-server, a database server, one or more databases and/or storagedevices, or any suitable combination thereof. Although illustrated as asingle device in FIG. 2 , one or more portions of external computingdevice 206 may be implemented as one or more storage devices that arephysically co-located with external computing device 206, or as one ormore storage devices utilizing different storage locations as a shareddatabase structure (e.g. cloud storage).

In some embodiments, external computing device 206 may be configured toperform any suitable portion of the processing functions remotely thathave been outsourced by one or more of mobile computing devices 204.1and/or 204.2. For example, mobile computing device 204.1 and/or 204.2may collect data (e.g., geographic location data and/or telematics data)as described herein, but may send the data to external computing device206 for remote processing instead of processing the data locally. Insuch embodiments, external computing device 206 may receive and processthe data to determine whether an anomalous condition exists and, if so,whether to send an alert notification to one or more mobile computingdevices 204.1 and 204.2.

In one aspect, external computing device 206 may additionally oralternatively be part of an insurer computing system (or facilitatecommunications with an insurer computer system), and as such may accessinsurer databases, execute algorithms, execute applications, accessremote servers, communicate with remote processors, etc., as needed toperform insurance-related functions. For example, external computingdevice 206 may facilitate the receipt of telematics data or other datafrom one or more mobile computing devices 204.1-204.N, which may beassociated with insurance customers and/or running a Telematics App, asfurther discussed below with reference to FIG. 3 .

In aspects in which external computing device 206 facilitatescommunications with an insurer computing system (or is part of such asystem), data received from one or more mobile computing devices204.1-204.N may include logon credentials which may be verified byexternal computing device 206 or one or more other external computingdevices, servers, etc. These logon credentials may be associated with aninsurer profile, which may include, for example, insurance policynumbers, a description and/or listing of insured assets, vehicleidentification numbers of insured vehicles, addresses of insuredstructures, contact information, premium rates, discounts, etc.

In this way, data received from one or more mobile computing devices204.1-204.N may allow external computing device 206 to uniquely identifyeach insured customer and/or whether each identified insurance customerhas installed the Telematics App. Furthermore, any data collected fromone or more mobile computing devices 204.1-204.N may be referenced toeach insurance customer and/or any insurance policies associated witheach insurance customer for various insurance-related purposes.

For example, as further discussed below with reference to FIG. 3 , theone or more mobile computing devices 204.1-204.N may broadcast, inaddition to or as part of the telematics data, data indicative ofwhether a Telematics App has been installed and/or usage data indicativeof how often a driver uses the Telematics App functionality whiledriving. Of course, similar or identical data may be received from avehicle as opposed to the mobile computing device located in thevehicle. That is, the same functions discussed below with reference toFIG. 3 regarding the Telematics App installed and executed on a mobilecomputing device may also (or alternatively) be installed and executedas part of a vehicle’s integrated computer functions, as previouslydiscussed with reference to FIG. 1 above.

In various aspects, an insurer may leverage data regarding whether aninsured customer has installed a Telematics App or how often theTelematics App is used while driving to calculate, adjust, and/or updatevarious insurance pricing for an automotive insurance policy or othersuitable insurance policy. For example, an insurer may adjust insurancepremiums, rates, discounts, points, programs, etc., based upon theinsured having the functionality discussed herein and/or the amount thatthe insured uses the functionality discussed herein.

In addition, external computing device 206 may facilitate thecommunication of the updated insurance policies, premiums, rates,discounts, etc., to insurance customers for their review, modification,and/or approval - such as via wireless communication or datatransmission to one or more mobile computing devices 204.1-204.N. Forexample, an insurer may provide an initial discount for an insuredcustomer installing the Telematics App and logging in with theTelematics App. To continue this example, because the alertnotifications provided by the Telematics App may reduce the likelihoodof a collision or other damage occurring to the vehicle or the driver,use of the Telematics App may function to mitigate or prevent drivingrisks upon which an insurance policy is partially based. Therefore, aninsurer may provide an additional discount that increases with theinsured customer’s usage of the Telematics App while driving.

In some aspects, external computing device 206 may facilitate indirectcommunications between one or more of mobile computing devices204.1-204.2, vehicles 202.1-202.N, and/or infrastructure component 208via network 201 or another suitable communication network and/orwireless link. For example, external computing device 206 may receivetelematics data from an originating mobile computing device 204.1 viaradio link 203 b and relay the telematics data to a destination mobilecomputing device 204.2 and/or to vehicle 202.2 via radio link 203 c.

Infrastructure component 208 may be implemented as any suitable type oftraffic infrastructure component configured to receive communicationsfrom and/or to send communications to other devices, such as externalcomputing devices 204.1, 204.2 and/or external computing device 206, forexample. In some aspects, infrastructure component 208 may beimplemented as one or more “smart” infrastructure components, which maybe configured to communicate with one or more other devices directlyand/or indirectly.

For example, smart infrastructure component 208 may be configured tocommunicate with one or more devices directly and/or indirectly. Forexample, smart infrastructure component 208 may be configured tocommunicate directly with mobile computing device 204.2 via link 203.dand/or with mobile computing device 204.1 via links 203 b and 203 futilizing network 201. To provide another example, smart infrastructurecomponent 208 may communicate with external computing device 206 vialinks 203 e and 203 f utilizing network 201.

In one embodiment, similar to external computing device 206, one or moresmart infrastructure components 208 may facilitate indirectcommunications between one or more of mobile computing devices204.1-204.2, vehicles 202.1-202.N, and/or external computing device 206via network 201 or another suitable communication network and/orwireless link. For example, one or more infrastructure components 208may receive telematics data from an originating mobile computing device204.2 via radio link 203 d and relay the telematics data to adestination mobile computing device 204.1 and/or to vehicle 202.1 viaradio links 203 b and 203 f.

Smart infrastructure component 208 may be implemented as any suitabletype of traffic infrastructure component configured to receivecommunications from and/or to send communications to other devices, suchas external computing devices 204.1, 204.2 and/or external computingdevice 206, for example. For example, smart infrastructure component 208may be implemented as a traffic light, a railroad crossing light, aconstruction notification sign, a roadside display configured to displaymessages, a billboard display, etc.

In some aspects, smart infrastructure component 208 may be configured toreceive geographic location data and/or telematics data from one or moreother devices and to process this data to determine whether an anomalouscondition has been detected and whether the detected anomalous conditionsatisfies a threshold distance condition with respect to smartinfrastructure component 208. The threshold distance condition mayinclude, for example, the geographic location of the anomalous conditionbeing within a threshold radius of smart infrastructure component 208,on the same road serviced by smart infrastructure component 208, etc. Ifso, smart infrastructure component 208 may perform one or more relevantactions such as displaying one or more relevant messages to notifydrivers in the vicinity, to modify traffic patterns, to change trafficlight timing, to redirect traffic, etc.

In other aspects, smart infrastructure component 208 may receive dataindicating that an alert is to be generated and/or the type of alertthat is to be generated. In accordance with such aspects, one or more ofmobile computing devices 204.1, 204.2 and/or external computing device206 may make the determination of whether an anomalous condition existsand is within a threshold distance of smart infrastructure component208. If so, the data received by smart infrastructure component 208 maybe indicative of the type of anomalous condition, the location of theanomalous condition, commands to cause smart infrastructure component208 to perform one or more acts, the type of acts to perform, etc.

To provide some illustrative examples, if smart infrastructure component208 is implemented as a smart traffic light, smart infrastructurecomponent 208 may change a traffic light from green to red (orvice-versa) or adjust a timing cycle to favor traffic in one directionover another. To provide another example, if smart infrastructurecomponent 208 is implemented as a traffic sign display, smartinfrastructure component 208 may display a warning message that theanomalous condition (e.g., a traffic accident) has been detected aheadand/or on a specific road corresponding to the geographic location data.

In additional aspects, other vehicles may play a role in the one or morealert notifications. To provide an illustrative example, an emergencyvehicle (e.g., an ambulance, fire truck, etc.) may be dispatched to thescene of an accident. In such a case, the emergency vehicle may beconfigured to broadcast one or more signals that cause one or more ofmobile computing devices 204.1-204.2 to generate one or more alertnotifications and/or smart infrastructure component 208 to change to adifferent state. These signals may be broadcasted from a mobilecomputing device carried by emergency response personnel and triggeredupon the vehicle approaching (e.g., within a threshold distance) ageographic location associated the vehicle accident. Additionally oralternatively, the signals may be broadcasted by any suitable devicemounted in or otherwise associated with the emergency response vehicle.

To provide another illustrative example, a train may broadcast one ormore signals indicating that the train is approaching a railroadcrossing, which is received by one or more of mobile computing devices204.1-204.2 and/or smart infrastructure component 208 and results in themobile computing devices generating one or more alert notificationsand/or the smart infrastructure component 208 changing to a differentstate. Similar to the emergency vehicle example above, the broadcastedsignal may be transmitted upon the train approaching (e.g., within athreshold distance) of the crossing location, and may be transmittedfrom a mobile computing device and/or equipment mounted on or otherwiseassociated with the train.

Additional vehicles such as emergency response vehicles and trains arenot illustrated in FIG. 2 for purposes of brevity. However, the signalstransmitted from these vehicles may be transmitted in accordance withany suitable communication protocol directly and/or indirectly to one ormore or mobile computing devices 204.1-204.2 and/or smart infrastructurecomponent 208. For example, the signals may be transmitted to directlyto smart infrastructure component 208, indirectly to one more mobilecomputing devices 204.1-204.2 via network 201 and/or remote computingdevice 206, etc.

Exemplary End-User/Destination Devices

The following details regarding the determination of an anomalouscondition are explained in this section with reference to computingdevice 300. In the present aspect, computing device 300 may beimplemented as any suitable computing device, such as a mobile computingdevice or mobile device (e.g., mobile computing device 100, as shown inFIG. 1 ). In another aspect, computing device 300 may be implemented asan on-board vehicle computer (e.g., on-board vehicle computer 114, asshown in FIG. 1 ). In still other aspects, computing device 300 may beimplemented as a device external to a vehicle (e.g., remote computingdevice 206 or smart infrastructure component 208, as shown in FIG. 2 ).

Depending upon the implementation of computing device 300, the methodsand processes utilized to determine the existence of anomalousconditions may be performed locally, remotely, or any suitablecombination of local and remote processing techniques.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computing device 300in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure.Computing device or mobile device 300 may be implemented as any suitablecomputing device (such as a smart phone, tablet, smart watch, etc.)configured to (1) monitor, measure, generate, and/or or collecttelematics data; (2) broadcast the geographic location data and/or thetelematics data to one or more external components, such as via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission; (3) receive geographic locationdata and/or telematics data broadcasted from another device, such as viawireless communication and/or data transmission; (4) determine whetheran anomalous condition exists at the geographic location indicated bythe geographic location data based upon the telematics data; (5)generate one or more alerts indicative of the anomalous condition;and/or (6) broadcast one or more alert notifications to other devices,such as via wireless communication and/or data transmission.

Computing device 300 may include a display 316, a graphics processingunit (GPU) 318, a location acquisition unit 320, a speaker/microphone322, a sensor array 326, a user interface 328, a communication unit 330,and/or a controller 340.

In one aspect, controller 340 may include a program memory 302, amicroprocessor (MP) 306, a random-access memory (RAM) 308, and/or aninput/output (I/O) interface 310, each of which may be interconnectedvia an address/data bus 312. Controller 340 may be implemented as anysuitable type and/or number of processors, such as a host processor forthe relevant device in which computing device 300 is implemented, forexample. In some aspects, controller 240 may be configured tocommunicate with additional data storage mechanisms that are not shownin FIG. 3 for purposes of brevity (e.g., one or more hard disk drives,optical storage drives, solid state storage devices, etc.) that residewithin or are otherwise associated with mobile computing device 200.

Program memory 302 may store data used in conjunction with one or morefunctions performed by computing device 300 to facilitate theinteraction between computing device 300 and one or more other devices.For example, if computing device 300 is implemented as a mobilecomputing device (e.g., mobile computing device 204.1, as shown in FIG.2 ), then program memory 302 may store one or more programs,applications, algorithms, etc. that, when executed by controller 340,facilitate the interaction between mobile computing device 204.1 and (i)one or more networks (e.g., network 201), (ii) other mobile computingdevices (e.g., mobile computing device 204.2), (iii) external computingdevices (e.g., external computing device 206), (iv) vehicles (e.g.,vehicle 108), (v) vehicle on-board computers (e.g., on-board computer114), infrastructure components (e.g., smart infrastructure component208), etc.

In various aspects, program memory 302 may be implemented as anon-transitory tangible computer readable media configured to storecomputer-readable instructions, that when executed by controller 340,cause controller 340 to perform various acts. Program memory 302 mayinclude an operating system 342, one or more software applications 344,and one or more software routines 352. To provide another example,program memory 302 may include other portions to store data that may beread from and written to by MP 306, such as data storage 360, forexample.

In one aspect, one or more MPs (micro-processors) 306 may be configuredto execute one or more of software applications 344, software routines352 residing in program memory 302, and/or other suitable softwareapplications. For example, operating system 342 may be implemented asany suitable operating system platform depending upon the particularimplementation of computing device 300. For example, if computing device300 is implemented as a mobile computing device, operating system 342may be implemented as a mobile OS platform such as the iOS®, Android™,Palm® webOS, Windows® Mobile/Phone, BlackBerry® OS, or Symbian® OSmobile technology platforms, developed by Apple Inc., Google Inc., PalmInc. (now Hewlett-Packard Company), Microsoft Corporation, Research inMotion (RIM), and Nokia, respectively.

In one embodiment, data storage 360 may store data such as applicationdata for the one or more software applications 344, routine data for theone or more software routines 352, geographic location data and/ortelematics data, etc.

Display 316 may be implemented as any suitable type of display and mayfacilitate user interaction with computing device 300 in conjunctionwith user interface 328. For example, display 316 may be implemented asa capacitive touch screen display, a resistive touch screen display,etc. In various embodiments, display 316 may be configured to work inconjunction with controller 340 and/or GPU 318 to display alerts and/ornotifications received from other devices indicative of detectedanomalous conditions.

Communication unit 330 may be configured to facilitate communicationsbetween computing device 300 and one or more other devices, such asother mobile computing devices, networks, external computing devices,smart infrastructure components, etc. As previously discussed withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , computing device 300 may be configured tocommunicate with these other devices in accordance with any suitablenumber and type of communication protocols. Thus, in various aspects,communication unit 330 may be configured to support any suitable numberand type of communication protocols based upon a particular networkand/or device in which computing device 300 is communicating tofacilitate this functionality.

Communication unit 330 may be configured to support separate orconcurrent communications, which may be the same type of communicationprotocol or different types of communication protocols. For example,communication unit 330 may be configured to facilitate communicationsbetween computing device 300 and an external computing device (e.g.,external computing device 206) via cellular communications whilefacilitating communications between computing device 300 and the vehiclein which it is carried (e.g., vehicle 108) via BLUETOOTH communications.

Communication unit 330 may be configured to broadcast data and/or toreceive data in accordance with any suitable communications schedule.For example, communication unit 330 may be configured to broadcastgeographic location data and/or telematics data every 15 seconds, every30 seconds, every minute, etc. As will be further discussed below, thegeographic location data and/or telematics data may be sampled inaccordance with any suitable sampling period. Thus, when broadcasted bycommunications unit 330 in accordance with a recurring schedule, thegeographic location data and/or telematics data may include a log orcollection of the geographic location data and/or telematics data thatwas sampled since the last data transmission. A suitable communicationschedule may be selected as a tradeoff between a desired anomalouscondition detection speed and battery usage of computing device 300,when applicable.

Additionally or alternatively, aspects include communication unit 330being configured to conditionally send data, which may be particularlyadvantageous when computing device 300 is implemented as a mobilecomputing device, as such conditions may help reduce power usage andprolong battery life. For example, communication unit 330 may beconfigured to only broadcast when telematics data has been sampled sincethe last transmission, which will be further discussed below withregards to sensor array 326. Controller 340 may determine whether hasbeen sampled since the last transmission by, for example, analyzing amemory address range (e.g., in data storage 360, RAM 308, etc.)associated with the storage of the telematics data and comparing thecontents of this buffer to a known range of valid values.

To provide another example, aspects include communication unit 330 beingadditionally or alternatively configured to only broadcast telematicsdata when computing device 300 is connected to a power source (e.g., anin-vehicle charger). To provide still another example, aspects includecommunication unit 330 being additionally or alternatively configured toonly broadcast telematics data when communication unit 330 is connectedto and/or communicating with a device identified as a vehicle. This mayinclude, for example, identifying a BLUETOOTH connection as a validvehicle to satisfy this condition upon installation and/or setup of therelevant application or program executed by computing device 300 tofacilitate the functionality described herein.

Location acquisition unit 320 may be configured to generate geographiclocation data utilizing any suitable global positioning techniques. Forexample, location acquisition unit 320 may communicate with one or moresatellites and/or wireless transmitters to determine a location ofcomputing device 300. Location acquisition unit 320 may use “AssistedGlobal Positioning System” (A-GPS), satellite GPS, or any other suitableglobal positioning protocol (e.g., the GLONASS system operated by theRussian government, the Galileo system operated by the European Union,etc.) to determine a geographic location of computing device 300.

In one aspect, location acquisition unit 320 may periodically store oneor more geographic locations of computing device 300 as geographiclocation data in any suitable portion of memory utilized by computingdevice 300 (e.g., program memory 302, RAM 308, etc.) and/or to anotherdevice (e.g., another mobile computing device, an external computingdevice, etc.). In this way, location acquisition unit 320 may sample thelocation of computing device 300 in accordance with any suitablesampling rate (e.g., every 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) andstore this geographic location data representing the position ofcomputing device 300, and thus the vehicle in which it is travelling,over time.

Speaker/microphone 322 may be configured as one or more separatedevices. Speaker/microphone 322 may include a microphone configured todetect sounds and to convert sounds to data suitable for communicationsvia communications unit 330. Speaker/microphone 322 may additionally oralternatively include a speaker configured to play sound in response todata received from one or more components of computing device 300 (e.g.,controller 340). In one embodiment, speaker/microphone 322 may beconfigured to play audible alerts.

User-interface 328 may be implemented as any suitable device configuredto collect user input, such as a “soft” keyboard displayed on display316 of computing device 300, a keyboard attached to computing device300, an external keyboard communicating via a wired or a wirelessconnection (e.g., a BLUETOOTH keyboard), an external mouse, etc.

Sensor array 326 may be configured to measure any suitable number and/ortype of sensor metrics as part of the telematics data. In one aspect,sensor array 326 may be implemented as one or more sensors positioned todetermine the speed, force, heading, and/or direction associated withmovements of computing device 300 and, thus, a vehicle in whichcomputing device 300 is positioned. Additionally or alternatively,sensor array 326 may be configured to communicate with one or moreportions of computing device 300 to measure, collect, and/or generateone or more sensor metrics from one or more non-sensor sources, whichwill be further discussed below.

To generate one or more sensor metrics, sensor array 326 may include,for example, one or more cameras, accelerometers, gyroscopes,magnetometers, barometers, thermometers, proximity sensors, lightsensors, Hall Effect sensors, etc. In aspects in which sensor array 326includes one or more accelerometers, sensor array 326 may be configuredto measure and/or collect accelerometer metric values utilizing anX-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis accelerometer. In accordance with suchaspects, sensor array 326 may measure sensor metric values as athree-dimensional accelerometer vector that represents the movement ofcomputing device 300 in three dimensional space by combining the outputsof the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis accelerometers using any suitabletechniques.

In one aspect, sensor array 326 may include one or more cameras or otherimage capture devices. In accordance with such aspects, the one or morecameras that are part of sensor array 326 may be mounted or otherwisepositioned on mobile computing device 300 such that, when mobilecomputing device 300 is docked, cradled, or otherwise mounted within avehicle, images may be captured from this vantage point. For example,when mobile computing device 300 is mounted within a vehicle, a cameraimplemented by sensor array 326 may function as a dashboard camera,capturing images and/or video data of various objects outside of thevehicle from this vantage point. Additionally or alternatively, mobilecomputing device 300 may capture audio data with the image and/or videodata via speaker/microphone 322.

In various aspects, mobile computing device 300 may begin to capturedata upon detecting that it has been placed in a cradle, and otherwisenot capture data in such a manner. This detection may occur, forexample, via one or more conditions being satisfied. For example, mobilecomputing device 300 may utilize one or more sensors (e.g., anaccelerometer that is part of sensor array 326) to determine that mobilecomputing device 300 has changed orientation to horizontal (as is commonwhen docked in a vehicle), that mobile computing device 300 iscommunicating via BLUETOOTH with the vehicle, that the vehicle is movingabove a threshold speed, etc. Aspects include any suitable number ofconditions, upon being satisfied, triggering mobile computing device 300to start collecting telematics data, images, audio, video, etc., viasensor array 326.

In various aspects, sensor array 326 may be configured to sample the oneor more sensor metrics in accordance with any suitable sampling rateand/or based upon one or more conditions being satisfied. For example,sensor array 326 may be configured to implement one or moreaccelerometers to sample sensor metrics indicative of a motion, speed,direction, and/or g-force associated with vehicle braking, acceleration,and cornering at a rate of 15 Hz, 30 Hz, 60 Hz, etc., which may be thesame sampling rate at which other sensor metrics are sampled ordifferent sampling rates. Additional examples of sensor metrics may bethose applicable to the determination of a compass heading, whether avehicle is turning, a current lane the vehicle is in, etc. To provideanother example, sensor array 326 may be configured to implement one ormore gyroscopes to improve the accuracy of the measured one or moresensor metrics and to determine whether the phone is in use orstationary within a vehicle. To provide another example, sensor array326 may implement a compass (magnetometer) to determine a direction orheading of a vehicle in which computing device 300 is located.

Again, sensor array 326 may additionally or alternatively communicatewith other portions of computing device 300 to obtain one or more sensormetrics even though these sensor metrics may not be measured by one ormore sensors that are part of sensor array 326. For example, sensorarray 326 may communicate with one or more of location acquisition unit320, communication unit 330, and/or controller 340 to obtain data suchas timestamps synchronized to the sampling of one or more sensor metrics(which may be measured to within hundredths of a second or smallerresolutions), geographic location data (and correlated timestampsthereof), a velocity based upon changes in the geographic location dataover time, a battery level of computing device 300, whether a battery ofcomputing device 300 is charging, whether computing device 300 is beinghandled or otherwise in use, an operating status of computing device 300(e.g., whether computing device 300 is unlocked and thus in use).

In various aspects, sensor array 326 may base timestamps upon anysuitable clock source, such as one utilized by location acquisition unit320 for GNSS functions. The timestamps may be, for example, recorded orlogged as various data is sampled to be synchronized to the sampling ofone or more sensor metrics (which may be measured to within hundredthsof a second or smaller resolutions).

Additionally or alternatively, sensor array 326, location acquisitionunit 320, and/or communication unit 330 may log or otherwise measurevarious metrics or other data that may be used by controller 340 todetermine how often the functionality of the Telematics Application isbeing utilized when a vehicle is being driven. For example, sensor array326 may log the time when telematics data is being collected, when theTelematics Application is running, and/or when the TelematicsApplication has been started. To provide additional examples,communication unit 330 may store data indicative of a BLUETOOTHconnection status of mobile computing device 300. To provide yet anotherexample, location acquisition unit 320 may store and/or log the changesin geographic location of mobile computing device 300 over time.

In various aspects, controller 340 may determine how often a driver usesthe Telematics App based upon any suitable combination of theaforementioned data. For example, the BLUETOOTH connection status may beleveraged to determine whether mobile computing device 300 is located ina vehicle. To provide another example, the changes in the geographiclocation data over time may be utilized to determine whether mobilecomputing device 300 has exceeded a threshold speed for a thresholdduration of time. In this way, a determination may be made whethermobile computing device 300 is located in a vehicle while the vehicle isbeing driven.

Various aspects include the aforementioned data being leveraged tocalculate a usage amount in which a user utilizes the Telematics Appwhile driving. For example, the usage amount may be based upon a totalproportion of time (e.g., 80% of the time while driving, thefunctionality provided by the Telematics App is enabled). To provideanother example, the usage amount may be mileage-based (e.g., 90% of themiles driven are done so with the functionality of the Telematics Appavailable to the driver). As discussed above, this usage data may besent to an insurer or other third party via a telematics datatransmission or a separate transmission and used to set and/or adjust aninsurance policy, premium, or discount for the insured customer.

In one aspect, sensor array 326 may sample one or more sensor metricsbased upon one or more conditions being satisfied. For example, sensorarray 326 may determine, based upon gyroscope sensor metrics,communication with controller 340, etc., whether computing device 300 isin use. If computing device 300 is in use (e.g., when implemented as amobile computing device) then the movement of computing device 300within the vehicle may not truly represent the vehicle motion, therebycausing sensor metrics sampled during this time to be erroneous.Therefore, aspects include sensor array 326 sampling the one or moresensor metrics when computing device 300 is not in use, and otherwisenot sampling the one or more sensor metrics.

In one aspect, sensory array 326 may include one or more cameras and/orimage capture devices. When sensory array 326 is implemented with one ormore cameras, these cameras may be configured as any suitable type ofcamera configured to capture and/or store images and/or video. Forexample, when mobile computing device 300 is mounted in a vehicle, thecamera may be configured to store images and/or video data of the roadin front of the vehicle in which it is mounted, and to store this datato any suitable portion of program memory 302 (e.g., data storage 360).Controller 340 and/or MP 306 may analyze this data to generate one ormore local alerts, to transmit signals indicative of detected alters toone or more other devices, etc., which is further discussed below withreference to the execution of anomalous condition detection routine 358.

Again, the telematics data broadcasted by computing device 300 mayinclude one or more sensor metrics. However, the telematics data mayadditionally or alternatively include other external data that may berelevant in determining the presence of an anomalous condition. Forexample, the telematics data may include external data such as speedlimit data correlated to a road upon which computing device 300 islocated (and thus the vehicle in which it is travelling), an indicationof a type of road, a population density corresponding to the geographiclocation data, etc.

In some aspects, computing device 300 may obtain this external data byreferencing the geographic location data to locally stored data (e.g.,data stored in data storage 360) and broadcasting this data appended toor otherwise included with the sensor metrics data as part of thetelematics data. In other aspects, the device receiving the telematicsdata (e.g., a mobile computing device, an external computing device, aninfrastructure component) may generate the external data locally or viacommunications with yet another device. As will be further discussedbelow, this external data may further assist the determination ofwhether an anomalous condition is present.

In some aspects, software applications 344 and/or software routines 352may reside in program memory 302 as default applications that may bebundled together with the OS of computing device 300. For example, webbrowser 348 may be part of software applications 344 that are includedwith OS 342 implemented by computing device 300.

In other aspects, software applications 344 and/or software routines 352may be installed on computing device 300 as one or more downloads, suchas an executable package installation file downloaded from a suitableapplication store via a connection to the Internet. For example, alertnotification application 346, telematics collection routine 354,geographic location determination routine 356, and/or anomalouscondition detection routine 358 may be stored to suitable portions ofprogram memory 302 upon installation of a package file downloaded insuch a manner. Examples of package download files may include downloadsvia the iTunes store, the Google Play Store, the Windows Phone Store,downloading a package installation file from another computing device,etc. Once downloaded, alert notification application 346 may beinstalled on computing device 300 as part of an installation packagesuch that, upon installation of alert notification application 346,telematics collection routine 354, geographic location determinationroutine 356, and/or anomalous condition detection routine 358 may alsobe installed.

In one embodiment, software applications 344 may include an alertnotification application 346, which may be implemented as a series ofmachine-readable instructions for performing the various tasksassociated with executing one or more embodiments described herein. Inone aspect, alert notification application 346 may cooperate with one ormore other hardware or software portions of computing device 300 tofacilitate these functions.

In an aspect, alert notification application 346 may function as aTelematics Application (or “App”) which is downloaded and installed onmobile computing device 300 by a user via a suitable third-partysoftware store and/or portal (e.g., Apple iTunes, Google Play, theWindows Store, etc.).

To provide an illustrative example, alert notification application 344may include instructions for performing tasks such as determining ageographic location of computing device 300 (e.g., via communicationswith location acquisition unit 330), monitoring, measuring, generating,and/or collecting telematics data, broadcasting the geographic locationdata and/or the telematics data to one or more external devices,receiving geographic location data and/or telematics data from anothercomputing device, determining whether an anomalous condition existsbased upon the geographic location data and/or the telematics data,generating one or more alerts indicative of the determined anomalouscondition, receiving user input, facilitating communications betweencomputing device 300 and one or more other devices in conjunction withcommunication unit 330, etc.

Software applications 344 may include a web browser 348. In someembodiments (e.g., when computing device 300 is implemented as a mobilecomputing device), web browser 348 may be a native we browserapplication, such as Apple’s Safari®, Google Android™ mobile webbrowser, Microsoft Internet Explorer® for Mobile, Opera Mobile™, etc. Inother embodiments, web browser 348 may be implemented as an embedded webbrowser.

Regardless of the implementation of web browser 348, various aspectsinclude web browser 348 being implemented as a series ofmachine-readable instructions for interpreting and displaying web pageinformation received from an external computing device (e.g., externalcomputing device 204.2, as shown in FIG. 2 ). This web page informationmay be utilized in conjunction with alert notification application 346to perform one or more function of the aspects as described herein.

In one embodiment, software routines 352 may include a telematicscollection routine 354. Telematics collection routine 354 may includeinstructions, that when executed by controller 340, facilitate sampling,monitoring, measuring, collecting, quantifying, storing, encrypting,transmitting, and/or broadcasting of telematics data. In some aspects,telematics collection routine 354 may facilitate collection oftelematics data locally via one or more components of computing device300 (e.g., via sensor array 326, location acquisition unit 320,controller 340, etc.). In other aspects, telematics collection routine354 may facilitate the storage of telematics data received from anotherdevice (e.g., via communication unit 330).

In one aspect, telematics collection routine 354 may work in conjunctionwith controller 340 and/or alert notification application 346 toperiodically listen for and/or to periodically broadcast telematicsdata. For example, controller 340 may, upon executing alert notificationapplication 346, periodically listen for a broadcast containingtelematics data generated and transmitted from other mobile computingdevices, vehicles, external computing devices, and/or infrastructurecomponents. Upon detecting a broadcast, controller 340 may download thebroadcast to a suitable portion of memory unit 302 and analyze thetelematics data contained therein for potential traffic events, travelevents, alerts, messages, etc. Such aspects may be particularly useful,for example, to save battery life of the mobile computing device, ascontinuous listening is not necessary but instead may be performed, forexample, in accordance with a particular timing schedule.

To provide another example, controller 340 may, upon executing alertnotification application 346, periodically broadcast telematics data,which may be received by other mobile computing devices, vehicles,external computing devices, and/or infrastructure components. Aspects inwhich telematics data is periodically generated and/or broadcasted arefurther discussed below with reference to FIG. 10 .

In one embodiment, software routines 352 may include a geographiclocation determination routine 356. Geographic location determinationroutine 356 may include instructions, that when executed by controller340, facilitate sampling, measuring, collecting, quantifying, storing,transmitting, and/or broadcasting of geographic location data (e.g.,latitude and longitude coordinates). In some aspects, geographiclocation determination routine 356 may facilitate generating and/orstoring geographic location data locally via one or more components ofcomputing device 300 (e.g., via location acquisition unit 320 and/orcommunication unit 330). In other aspects, geographic locationdetermination routine 356 may facilitate the storage of geographiclocation data received from another device (e.g., via communication unit330).

Additionally or alternatively, software routines 352 may includeanomalous condition detection routine 358. Anomalous condition detectionroutine 358 may include instructions, that when executed by controller340, facilitate the determination of whether an anomalous conditionexists based upon the telematics data, the geographic location data,and/or image and/or video data captured by one or more cameras or otherimaging devices. An anomalous condition may include any suitablecondition that indicates a deviation from normal traffic patterns. Forexample, if an accident occurs, traffic may slow down due to a carpileup, a reduction in available lanes, and/or rerouting of traffic.Because the telematics data may include data indicative of the speedlimit at the location corresponding to the geographic location where thetelematics data was sampled, a comparison between the speed of computingdevice 300 and the posted or other speed limit data (such as acomparison between mobile device or vehicle speed with a map of, and/orknown, posted speed limit information) may indicate an anomalouscondition. Furthermore, because each vehicle may sample and/or broadcastgeographic location data and/or telematics data in real time, theanomalous conditions may be detected with minimal delay as they occur.

Although the speed of the vehicle may indicate an anomalous condition,aspects include other types of anomalous conditions being detected basedupon the telematics data. For example, an anomalous condition may beidentified when the one or more sensor metrics indicate that an airbaghas been deployed, and thus the vehicle associated with computing device300 has been in an accident. This may be determined, for example, via ananalysis of barometer readings matching a pressure versus time profileand/or via an indication from a dedicated airbag deployment sensorlocated in the vehicle.

To provide another example, an anomalous condition may be identifiedbased upon weather fluctuations associated with a rapid formation ofice, a sudden change from a paved to a dirt road, the triggering of acrash detection system, a threshold number of wheel slips and/or skidsbeing sampled within a threshold sampling period (indicating slipperyconditions), sensor metrics indicative of a rollover condition, a suddenstop (indicating a collision), a departure from the road (indicating apulled over vehicle), etc.

To provide an illustrative example based upon a traffic accident, if afirst vehicle carrying a first computing device 300 is slowed down dueto a traffic accident, then the one or more sensor metrics sampled bysensor array 326 will indicate the speed of the first vehicle over aperiod of time. If the one or more sensor metrics indicate that thefirst vehicle’s speed is below the speed limit by some threshold amountor proportion thereof (e.g., 20 mph in a 55 mph zone, 50% of the postedspeed limit, etc.) and this is maintained for a threshold duration oftime (e.g., 30 seconds, one minute, two minutes, etc.) then controller340 may, upon execution of anomalous condition detection routine 358,conclude that an anomalous condition has been detected. This anomalouscondition may also be correlated to the geographic location associatedwith the geographic location data due to synchronization between thegeographic location data and the sampled telematics data.

Further continuing this example, upon determination of the anomalouscondition, alert notification application 346 may broadcast anotification indicating the detected anomalous condition, the telematicsdata, and/or the geographic location data associated with the detectedanomalous condition. In one aspect, a second vehicle equipped with asecond computing device 300 may receive this data and further determinewhether the anomalous condition is relevant based upon the geographicrelationship between the first and second devices, which is furtherdiscussed below. If the anomalous condition is relevant, then the secondcomputing device 300 may generate an alert indicating the anomalouscondition.

To provide another example by modifying the details of the previous one,aspects may include computing device 300 broadcasting telematics dataand/or geographic location data but not notification data. In accordancewith such aspects, upon being received by a second computing device 300(e.g., a mobile computing device in a second vehicle, an externalcomputing device, a smart infrastructure component, etc.) the secondcomputing device 300 may determine the relevance of the anomalouscondition based upon the geographic relationship between itself and thefirst computing device 300.

If the second computing device 300 determines that an anomalouscondition, even if present, would be irrelevant or inapplicable basedupon the distance between these devices, the second computing device 300may ignore the telematics data, thereby saving processing power andbattery life. However, if the second computing device 300 determinesthat the geographic location data indicates a potentially relevantanomalous condition, the second computing device 300 may further processthe telematics data and take the appropriate relevant action if ananomalous condition is found (e.g., issue an alert notification,generate an alert, display a warning message, etc.).

To provide yet another example by further modifying the details in theprevious two, aspects may include computing device 300 broadcasting thetelematics data and geographic location data to an external computingdevice (e.g., to external computing device 206 via network 201, as shownin FIG. 2 ). In addition, the second computing device 300 associatedwith the second vehicle may likewise broadcast telematics data andgeographic location data to the external computing device. In accordancewith such aspects, the external computing device may determine whetheran anomalous condition exists and is relevant to each of the first andsecond devices 300 based upon a geographic relationship between thefirst and second devices 300. When relevant, external computing devicemay be configured to send alert notifications to the first and/or seconddevices 300, which may include any suitable type of communications suchas push notifications, a short messaging service (SMS) message, anemail, a notification that used in conjunction with the OS running oneach receptive computing device 300, etc. Upon receiving thenotification from the external computing device, the first and/or secondcomputing device 300 may generate an alert indicating a description ofthe anomalous condition and/or its location.

The geographic relationship between two or more devices 300 may beutilized in several ways to determine the relevance of the anomalouscondition. For instance, current speed, location, route, destination,and/or direction of travel of a first vehicle (collecting and/orassociated with the telematics data) may be individually or collectivelycompared with current speed, location, route, destination, and/ordirection of travel of a second vehicle traveling on the road. As oneexample of the geographic relationship, a first vehicle location (andassociated with a travel or traffic event) may be compared with a secondvehicle location, current route, and/or destination to determine whetherthe second vehicle should divert course or slow down to alleviate therisk of the second vehicle being involved in a collision or a trafficjam (as a result of the travel or traffic event that is identified bythe telematics data).

As another example of the geographic relationship, a radius from onevehicle or a line-of-sight distance between vehicles may be utilized andcompared to a threshold distance. For example, if computing device 300is implemented as an external computing device and determines aline-of-sight distance between a first and second vehicle to be lessthan a threshold distance (e.g., a half mile, one mile, etc.), then theexternal computing device may issue an alert notification to bothvehicles. In this way, an external computing device may act as an alertmanagement device, processing data and sending notifications to thosedevices for which a detected anomalous condition is relevant.

In another example of the geographic relationship, the geographiclocation data may be correlated with a map database to associate theanomalous condition with a road and to determine the relevance of theanomalous condition based upon other vehicles sharing the road. The mapdatabase may be stored, for example, in a suitable portion of computingdevice 300 (e.g., data storage 360) or retrieved via communications withone or more external computing devices. To provide an illustrativeexample, a computing device 300 may be implemented as an externalcomputing device. The external computing device may determine, fromtelematics data and geographic location data received from a firstcomputing device 300, that a first vehicle is located on a highway at acertain geographic location. If the external computing device determinesthat a second computing device 300 in a vehicle travelling on the samehighway is within a threshold distance approaching the first vehicle,then the external computing device may issue an alert notification tothe second vehicle.

In yet other aspects, the geographic location data may be correlatedwith a geofence database to determine the relevance of the anomalouscondition based upon whether other vehicles are located inside thegeofence. The geofence database may be stored, for example, in asuitable portion of computing device 300 (e.g., data storage 360) orretrieved via communications with one or more external computingdevices. To provide another illustrative example, a computing device 300may be implemented as an external computing device. The externalcomputing device may determine, from telematics data and geographiclocation data received from a first computing device 300, that a firstvehicle is located on a highway at a certain geographic location. Theexternal computing device may calculate a geofence having a shapesubstantially matching the road upon which the first vehicle istravelling.

The geofence may be calculated as having any suitable shape such thatthe appropriate vehicles are notified of the detected anomalouscondition. For example, the geofence shape may follow the contours ofthe road and extend ahead of the first vehicle and behind the firstvehicle some threshold distances, which may be the same or differentthan one another. To provide another example, the geofence shape mayinclude other arterial roads that feed into the road upon which thefirst vehicle is travelling, roads anticipated to be impacted by theanomalous condition, etc.

In some aspects, the geofence may be adjusted or modified based upon achange in the location of computing device 300. This change may betriggered using any suitable data indicative of potentially increasingroad densities, such as changes in population density data associatedwith the geographic location of the computing device 300, changes in atype of road upon which computing device 300 is determined to betravelling, etc.

For example, a first computing device 300 may be implemented as a mobilecomputing device and associated with a first vehicle, while a secondcomputing device 300 may be implemented as an external computing device.The external computing device may calculate an initial geofence as athreshold distance radius centered about the first vehicle’s location.The geographic location data corresponding to the first vehicle’slocation may have associated population density data that is correlatedwith locally stored data or data retrieved by the external computingdevice. When the population density data surpasses a threshold densityvalue, the shape of the geofence may be adjusted from the radiuscentered about the first vehicle’s location to include only the roadupon which the first vehicle is travelling. In this way, computingdevice 300 may prevent false alert notifications from being sent toother vehicles travelling in close proximity to the first vehicle, buton nearby roads unaffected by the detected anomalous condition.

To provide another illustrative example, as previously discussed, one ormore cameras integrated as part of sensor array 326 may store imageand/or video data from a vantage point within a vehicle in which mobilecomputing device 300 is mounted to act as a dashboard camera. Inaccordance with such aspects, anomalous condition detection routine 358may include instructions, that when executed by controller 340,facilitate the analysis of the image and/or video data to detect one ormore anomalous conditions that may pose an immediate threat to thedriver. These anomalous objects may also be identified as a trafficevent, as previously discussed. This analysis may be performed inaccordance with any suitable object recognition and/or image analysis todetect images in the path of the vehicle, such as animals, pedestrians,other vehicles, potholes, etc.

Upon detecting an anomalous object, mobile computing device 300 mayissue the appropriate alert via display 316 and/or sound an alarm viaspeaker/microphone 322. Additionally or alternatively, mobile computingdevice 300 may, upon detecting an anomaly, broadcast one or more signalsvia communication unit 330, which are received directly or indirectly byother mobile computing devices. Again, these other mobile computingdevices may then generate alert notifications locally when close to thegeographic location of mobile computing device 300 where the signal wasbroadcasted. Aspects in which the detected anomalous condition is sharedin this manner may be particularly useful when the identified anomaly islikely to threaten other drivers using the same road, such as potholesor objects blocking the roadway, for example.

Although FIG. 3 depicts controller 340 as including one program memory302, one MP 306, and one RAM 308, controller 340 may include anysuitable number of program memory 302, MP 306, and RAM 308. Furthermore,although FIG. 3 depicts controller 340 as having a single I/O interface310, controller 340 may include any suitable number and/or types of I/Ointerfaces 310. In various aspects, controller 340 may implement RAM(s)308 and program memories 302 as any suitable type of memory, such asnon-transitory computer readable memories, semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, forexample.

Exemplary Screenshots of an Alert Notification Application

FIG. 4A illustrates an example mobile computing device home screen 400in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. Invarious aspects, home screen 400 is displayed on a mobile computingdevice, such as mobile computing device 110 or mobile computing devices204.1-204.2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , respectively. In accordancewith such aspects, home screen 400 may be displayed as part of a devicedisplay, such as display 316, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 .

Home screen 400 may be displayed as a default screen on a mobilecomputing device. In one embodiment, home screen 400 may facilitate alock screen of a mobile computing device. Lock screens may be typicallydisplayed when a user locks the mobile computing device to enter a lockscreen mode (e.g., by pressing a physical button). Additionally oralternatively, the mobile computing device may revert to the lock screenwhen inactive for a threshold period of time. The lock screen prevents auser from using a portion of the mobile computing device functionality.For example, a lock screen might prevent a mobile computing device in auser’s pocket from accidentally sending SMS messages or phone calls.

Although lock screens typically limit the functionality of the devicewhen enabled, it may be desirable for certain applications to provide auser with some functionality via the lock screen. For example, if themobile computing device is used to play music, a lock screen overlaycould allow a user to change tracks, pause a track, or adjust the volumelevel without unlocking the phone. In accordance with some aspects,alert notification 402 may be displayed as part of a home screen and/orlock screen of a mobile computing device, as shown in FIG. 4A.

Although alert notification 402 may be displayed as part of home screen400, other aspects include alert notification 402 being displayed aspart of a notification system separate from home screen 400. Forexample, some mobile phone operating systems (e.g., the Android OS)implement a universal “pull-down” notification system where all incomingnotifications are displayed. In these notification systems, newnotifications are initially previewed in a notification bar at the topof the phone display, and a user may pull down the notification bar(e.g., by using a swiping gesture) to access the details of any receivednotifications. In one aspect, alert notification 402 may be displayed aspart of a notification bar type notification.

As previously discussed with reference to FIG. 3 , a device running thealert notification application may be configured to determine whether ananomalous condition has been detected and/or to receive alertnotifications sent by other devices that have done so. In accordancewith such aspects, alert notification 402 is a block diagramrepresentation of what may be generated upon detection of an anomalouscondition and/or receiving an indication that an anomalous condition hasbeen detected. Alert notification 402 may be implemented as any suitablegraphic, label, text, description, etc., to convey this to a user. Inone embodiment, alert notification 402 may be interactive and mayfacilitate a user selection via an appropriate gesture (e.g., swiping,tapping, etc.).

FIG. 4B illustrates an example mobile computing device applicationscreen 450 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure. In various aspects, application screen 450 may be displayedon a mobile computing device, such as mobile computing device 110 ormobile computing devices 204.1-204.2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ,respectively. In accordance with such aspects, application screen 450may be displayed as part of a device display, such as display 316, forexample, as shown in FIG. 3 .

In one aspect, application screen 450 may be displayed upon a userselecting alert notification 402 from home screen 400. Applicationscreen 450 may include an alert description 452 and an alert location454. Alert description 452 is a block diagram representation of one ormore descriptions of the alerts related to the detected anomalouscondition. Alert description 452 may be implemented as any suitablegraphic, label, text, description, etc., to convey this to a user. Forexample, alert description 452 may include a text description such as“slow traffic ahead,” “traffic at standstill ahead,” “unpaved roadahead,” “potential icy conditions ahead,” “pulled over vehicle ahead,”etc.

Alert location 454 is a block diagram representation of one or moredescriptions of the location of the anomalous condition. Alert location454 may be implemented as any suitable graphic, label, text,description, etc., to convey this to a user. For example, alert location454 may include a directional compass indicating a direction towards theanomalous condition from the mobile computing device displayingapplication screen 450. To provide additional examples, alert location454 may include a distance to the anomalous condition, a map overlaidwith the location of the mobile computing device displaying applicationscreen 450 to indicate the position of the mobile computing device inrelation to the anomalous condition, the threshold distances and/orgeofences used to determine the relevance of the anomalous condition,etc.

Exemplary Method of Generating Alert Notifications

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method 500 of generating, displaying,and/or sending an alert based upon telematics data in accordance with anexemplary aspect of the present disclosure. In the present aspect, themethod 500 may be implemented by any suitable computing device (e.g.,mobile devices or mobile computing devices 204.1 and 204.2, externalcomputing device 206, and smart infrastructure component 208, as shownin FIG. 2 ). In one aspect, the method 500 may be performed by one ormore processors, applications, and/or routines, such as any suitableportion of controller 340, software applications 344, and/or softwareroutines 352, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 .

The method 500 may start when one or more processors receive geographiclocation data and/or telematics data from a first and a secondrespective vehicle (block 502). The geographic location data mayinclude, for example, latitude and longitude coordinates obtained by amobile computing device and/or an on-board computer located within eachvehicle. The telematics data may include, for example, one or moresensor metrics indicative of a motion of each vehicle, timestamp data,road type data, population density data, and any other suitable dataindicative of a status of the device from which it is received, aspreviously discussed with reference to FIG. 3 (block 502). Thegeographic location data and/or telematics data may be generated, forexample, by one or more mobile computing devices and/or on-boardcomputers located within, or otherwise associated with, the first andsecond vehicles.

The method 500 may include one or more processors determining whether ananomalous condition is present at the location of the first or thesecond vehicle based upon the telematics data received from eachrespective vehicle (block 504). The determination may be made, forexample, when one or more sensor metrics, included in the telematicsdata, indicates that a vehicle is moving at a slower rate of speed, thatan airbag has been deployed, that a crash has occurred, etc. (block504). If the one or more processors determine that an anomalouscondition is present, then method 500 may continue (block 506).Otherwise, the method 500 may revert to receiving geographic locationdata and/or telematics data (block 502).

The method 500 may include one or more processors calculating ageographic relationship between the first and the second vehicle (block506). This geographic relationship may be a geofence around the first orthe second vehicle, a radius around the first or the second vehiclerepresenting a threshold distance, etc. (block 506).

The method 500 may include one or more processors determining whetherthe geographic relationship satisfies one or more conditions (block508). These conditions may include, for example, one of the vehiclesbeing within the radius, the threshold distance, and/or the geofence(block 508) that was calculated as a geographic relationship between thefirst and the second vehicles (block 506). Other conditions may include,for example, determining whether a location of traffic event (asdetermined from the telematics data associated with one vehicle) may bein the vicinity or pre-determined threshold distance of the currentlocation, route, and/or destination another vehicle traveling on theroad. Other geographical relationships may be determined, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein.

If the one or more conditions are satisfied, then the method 500 maycontinue (block 510). Otherwise, the method 500 reverts to receivinggeographic location data and/or telematics data (block 502).

The method 500 may include one or more processors generating,displaying, and/or sending an alert indicative of the anomalouscondition (block 510). In various aspects, the method 500 may includedifferent acts that may be performed based upon the type of computingdevice. For example, if method 500 is performed by a mobile computingdevice, the method 500 may include generating and displaying the alert,as previously discussed with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B (block 510).However, if the method 500 is performed by a smart infrastructurecomponent, the method 500 may include displaying a message, aspreviously discussed with reference to FIG. 2 (block 510). To provideyet another example, if the method 500 is performed by an externalcomputing device, then the method 500 may include one or more processorssending an alert notification to another device, as previously discussedwith reference to FIG. 2 (block 510).

The method 500 may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions,including those discussed elsewhere herein. For instance, in addition togenerating alerts, the method may include generating, sending,receiving, and/or displaying alternate routes to destinations that avoidthe traffic event or anomalous condition.

Method of Generating and Broadcasting Telematics Data

As noted herein, telematics data associated with a first vehicle may becollected in real-time by a mobile device of a first driver. The mobiledevice may be specifically configured to gather or generate telematicsand/or other driver/vehicle data in real-time as the vehicle istraveling. If a traffic event is encountered, about to be encountered,and/or expected or anticipated to be encountered by the vehicle as ittravels, the telematics data collected may indicate such. The mobiledevice itself may be configured to identify the type of traffic eventand transmit the type of traffic event to other mobile devices, a remoteserver, smart vehicles, and/or smart infrastructure. Additionally oralternatively, the mobile device may transmit the telematics data toother devices for analysis of the telematics data transmitted at thoseother devices (e.g., mobile devices, a remote server, smart vehicles,and/or smart infrastructure).

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of generating andbroadcasting telematics (and/or other) data 600 may be provided, asdepicted by FIG. 6 . The method may include: (1) generating and/orcollecting, at or by a mobile device and/or smart vehicle controller,telematics data associated with a first vehicle 602, (2) analyzing orreviewing, at or via the mobile device and/or smart vehicle controller,the telematics data associated with the first vehicle to determine thata travel event associated with the first vehicle exists (that isrevealed by the telematics data) 604; (3) generating, at or via themobile device and/or smart vehicle controller, a warning message (suchas either visual or audible alert) associated with or detailing thetravel event 606; and/or (4) transmitting or broadcasting (via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission), at or from the mobile deviceand/or smart vehicle controller, the warning message associated with ordetailing the travel event 608 to (i) a second mobile device associatedwith a second driver, (ii) a second smart vehicle controller of a secondvehicle associated with the second driver, (iii) smart infrastructure,and/or (iv) a remote server such that telematics data generated and/orcollected by the mobile device or smart vehicle controller (andassociated with the first (traveling) vehicle) may be used to facilitatesafer driving and vehicle travel for other vehicles and drivers. Themethod 600 may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions,including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For example, the mobile device and/or smart vehicle controller mayfurther (i) determine or extract a GPS or other location of the travelevent, (ii) determine vehicles in the vicinity of the travel event (suchas within a certain distance, e.g., 1 or 2 miles), and/or (iii) transmitthe warning message to the vehicles in the vicinity of the travel event(or to mobile devices associated with owners of those vehicles). Themobile device and/or smart vehicle controller may further (i) determineor extract a GPS or other location of the travel event, (ii) determinevehicles in the vicinity of the travel event, (iii) calculate ordetermine alternate routes for the vehicles in the vicinity of thetravel event (or to mobile devices associated with owners of thosevehicles), and/or (iv) transmit the alternate routes to the vehicles inthe vicinity of the travel event (or to mobile devices associated withowners of those vehicles) to facilitate re-routing traffic to safertravel routes using the telematics data gathered from an initial vehicleor mobile device involved with a travel event.

Exemplary End-User: Receiving & Analyzing Telematics Data

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics (and/orother) data 700 may be provided, as depicted by FIG. 7 . The method mayinclude (a) receiving telematics (and/or other) data 702, at or by (1) amobile device associated with a driver or (2) a smart vehicle controllerof a vehicle associated with the driver, via wireless communicationand/or data transmission, the telematics data being generated by asecond mobile device or second smart vehicle associated with a seconddriver; (b) analyzing the telematics data, at or via the mobile device(or smart vehicle controller) 704; (c) determining, at or via the mobiledevice (or smart vehicle controller), that an abnormal travel condition(or traffic event) exists from the analysis of the telematics (and/orother) data 706; and/or (d) when the abnormal travel condition (ortraffic event) exists, automatically taking a preventive or correctiveaction 708, at or via the mobile device (or smart vehicle controller),that alleviates a negative impact of the abnormal travel condition (ortraffic event) on the driver and/or the vehicle to facilitate saferand/or more efficient vehicle travel. The method 700 may includeadditional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussedelsewhere herein.

For example, the abnormal condition may be based upon (and/or determinedfrom telematics (and/or other) data that reveals) vehicle, traffic,congestion, road construction, and/or weather conditions. The telematics(and/or other) data (1) may be generated and/or collected by a secondmobile device and/or a second smart vehicle (or second smart vehiclecontroller) associated with another driver, and/or (2) may includespeed, acceleration, deceleration, location, lane information, and/orother data of, or associated with, the second mobile device, secondsmart vehicle, and/or one or more other vehicles. Additionally oralternatively, the telematics (and/or other) data (1) may be generatedand/or collected by a second mobile device and/or a second smart vehicle(or second smart vehicle controller) associated with another driver,and/or (2) may include time, braking, acceleration, left turn, rightturn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed, GPS latitude andlongitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usage informationor data of, or associated with, the second mobile device, second smartvehicle, and/or one or more other vehicles.

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: (i) generating ordetermining an alert, at or via the mobile device (and/or smart vehiclecontroller); (ii) presenting a visual alert, at or via the mobile device(and/or smart vehicle controller), on a display or display screenassociated with the mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller);and/or (iii) providing an audio or audible alert, at or via the mobiledevice (and/or smart vehicle controller). The alert may be presented orprovided only after the mobile device (or smart vehicle controller)determines that the abnormal travel condition (or traffic event) isrelevant to the vehicle, such as by determining that a location of theabnormal travel condition (or traffic event) is in the vicinity of thevehicle and/or along a route that the vehicle is presently traveling.Additionally or alternatively, the preventive or corrective action takenmay be: (i) generating, determining, and/or receiving an alternatetravel route that avoids a GPS location of the travel or traffic event,at or via the mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller); and/or(ii) presenting the alternative travel route, at or via the mobiledevice (and/or smart vehicle controller), on a display or display screenfor use by the driver; and/or providing audio driving directions for thevehicle to travel along the alternate route. The preventive orcorrective action taken may be: (i) generating, determining, and/orreceiving an alternate travel route that avoids a GPS location of thetravel or traffic event, at or via the mobile device (and/or smartvehicle controller); and/or (ii) automatically directing the vehicle totake or follow the alternative travel route, at or via the mobile device(and/or smart vehicle controller), such as by directing an autonomousvehicle to automatically take the alternate travel route.

The telematics data may be generated and/or collected by a second mobiledevice and/or a second smart vehicle (or second smart vehiclecontroller). The telematics (and/or other) data may be (1) generatedand/or collected by a second mobile device and/or a second smart vehicle(or second smart vehicle controller), and/or (2) transmitted from thesecond mobile device and/or second smart vehicle directly to the mobiledevice (and/or smart vehicle controller) via wireless communicationand/or data transmission (such as via peer-to-peer (P2P) communication).Additionally or alternatively, the telematics (and/or other) data may be(1) generated and/or collected by a second mobile device and/or a secondsmart vehicle (or second smart vehicle controller), and/or (2)transmitted from the second mobile device and/or second smart vehicledirectly to a remote server (such as an insurance provider remoteserver), and then relayed or transmitted from the remote server to themobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller) via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission.

The telematics (and/or other) data may be (1) generated and/or collectedby a second mobile device and/or a second smart vehicle (or smartvehicle controller), and/or (2) transmitted from the second mobiledevice and/or second smart vehicle directly to smart infrastructure(such as a smart stop sign, smart street sign, smart toll both, and/orsmart road-side equipment, markers, or reflectors), and then relayed ortransmitted from the smart infrastructure to the mobile device (and/orsmart vehicle controller) via wireless communication and/or datatransmission. Additionally or alternatively, the telematics (and/orother) data may be (1) generated and/or collected by a second mobiledevice and/or a second smart vehicle (or second smart vehiclecontroller), and/or (2) transmitted from the second mobile device and/orsecond smart vehicle directly or indirectly to the mobile device (and/orsmart vehicle controller), such as via (a) vehicle-to-vehicle wirelesscommunication, (b) peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile device-to-mobile device)wireless communication, (c) vehicle-to-infrastructure wirelesscommunication, and/or (d) infrastructure-to-vehicle wirelesscommunication (and/or data transmission).

Exemplary End-User/Destination Devices

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics and/orother data may be provided. The method may include (a) receivingtelematics data, at or by (1) a mobile device associated with a driver,and/or (2) a smart vehicle controller of a vehicle associated with thedriver, via wireless communication and/or data transmission; (b)determining, at or via the mobile device (or smart vehicle controller),(i) a travel (or traffic) event, or that the travel event exists, fromanalysis of the telematics data, and/or (ii) that a travel event messageor warning associated with the travel event exists within, or isembedded within, the telematics data; and/or (c) if the travel eventexits, automatically taking a preventive or corrective action, at or viathe mobile device (or smart vehicle controller), that alleviates anegative impact of the travel event on the driver or vehicle tofacilitate safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel. The method mayinclude additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including thosediscussed elsewhere herein and/or directly above.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematicsdata may be provided. The method may include (a) receiving anotification that an abnormal travel condition (or traffic event)exists, at or by (1) a mobile device associated with a driver, and/or(2) a smart vehicle controller of a vehicle associated with the driver,via wireless communication and/or data transmission, the notificationbeing determined from telematics data collected or generated by (i) asecond mobile device, and/or (ii) second smart vehicle (or smart vehiclecontroller) associated with a second driver; and/or (b) when theabnormal travel condition (or traffic event) exists, automaticallytaking a preventive or corrective action, at or via the mobile device(or smart vehicle controller), that alleviates a negative impact of theabnormal travel condition (or traffic event) on the driver and/or thevehicle to facilitate safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel. Theabnormal condition (or traffic event) may be based upon (and/ordetermined from telematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic,congestion, road construction, and/or weather conditions, and thenotification defines the type of abnormal condition (or traffic event)and/or an extent of the abnormal condition (or traffic event), such asby (a) length of time, or (b) size or area impacted by the abnormalcondition (or traffic event). The telematics (and/or other) data mayinclude speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, lane information,and/or other data of, or associated with, the second mobile device,second smart vehicle, and/or one or more other vehicles. The telematics(and/or other) data may include time, braking, acceleration, left turn,right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed, GPS latitudeand longitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usageinformation or data of, or associated with, the second mobile device,second smart vehicle, and/or one or more other vehicles. The method mayinclude additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including thosediscussed elsewhere herein.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics(and/or other) data may be provided. The method may include: (a)receiving telematics and/or other data (and/or other electroniccommunications or wireless messages), at or by (1) a mobile deviceassociated with a driver, and/or (2) a smart vehicle controller of avehicle associated with the driver, via wireless communication and/ordata transmission; (b) determining, at or via the mobile device (orsmart vehicle controller), that a travel (or traffic) event message orwarning associated with a travel (or traffic) event exists within, or isembedded within, the telematics and/or other data (and/or otherelectronic communications or wireless messages), the travel (or traffic)event being determined from telematics and/or other data collected orgenerated by a second mobile device associated with a second driver (ora second smart vehicle controller of another vehicle associated with thesecond driver); and/or (c) if so, (i) presenting the travel (or traffic)event message or warning, at or via the mobile device (or smart vehiclecontroller), on a display or display screen associated with the mobiledevice (or smart vehicle controller); and/or (ii) providing an audibleor audio alert associated with the travel (or traffic) event message orwarning to alleviate a negative impact of the travel (or traffic) eventon the driver and/or the vehicle to facilitate safer and/or moreefficient vehicle travel.

The travel (or traffic) event message or warning may be presented onlyafter the mobile device (or smart vehicle controller) determines thatthe traffic event message or warning is relevant to the vehicle, such asby determining that a location of the travel (or traffic) event is inthe vicinity of the vehicle, a GPS position associated with the vehicle,and/or along a route that the vehicle is traveling. The telematicsand/or other data may be transmitted from the second mobile deviceand/or second smart vehicle directly or indirectly to the mobile device(and/or smart vehicle controller), such as via (a) vehicle-to-vehiclewireless communication, (b) peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile device-to-mobiledevice) wireless communication, (c) vehicle-to-infrastructure wirelesscommunication, and/or (d) infrastructure-to-vehicle wirelesscommunication (and/or data transmission). The method may includeadditional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussedelsewhere herein.

Exemplary End-User Device & GPS Comparison

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics (and/orother) data may be provided. The method may include (a) receivingtelematics data, at or by (1) a mobile device associated with a driver,and/or (2) a smart vehicle controller of a vehicle associated with thedriver, via wireless communication and/or data transmission; (b)analyzing or reviewing the telematics data, at or by the mobile device(or smart vehicle controller) to determine that a travel event exists(that is revealed by the telematics data) based upon a GPS (GlobalPositioning System) location of the travel event (such as revealed bythe telematics data); (c) if so, then further determining if the travelevent presents an issue or problem for the driver (e.g., owner of themobile device or smart vehicle), via the mobile device (or smart vehiclecontroller), such as by determining that the GPS location of the travelevent is located along or on the current travel route of the vehicle,and/or in a vicinity or ahead of the current GPS location of the mobiledevice (or smart vehicle controller); and/or (d) if so, automaticallytaking a preventive or corrective action, at or via the mobile device(or smart vehicle controller) that alleviates a negative impact of thetravel event on the driver and/or vehicle to facilitate safer and/ormore efficient vehicle travel. The method may include additional, fewer,or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the preventive or corrective action taken may be:generating or determining an alert, at or via the mobile device (and/orsmart vehicle controller); presenting a visual alert, at or via themobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller), on a display or displayscreen associated with the mobile device (and/or smart vehiclecontroller); and/or providing an audio or audible alert, at or via themobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller). The preventive orcorrective action taken may be: generating, determining, or receiving analternate travel route that avoids the GPS location of the travel event,at or via the mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller); and/orpresenting the alternative travel route, at or via the mobile device(and/or smart vehicle controller), on a display or display screen foruse by the driver. Additionally or alternatively, the preventive orcorrective action taken may be: generating an alternate travel routethat avoids the GPS location of the travel event, at or via the mobiledevice (and/or smart vehicle controller); and/or automatically directingthe vehicle to take or follow the alternative travel route, at or viathe mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller), such as bydirecting an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to take the alternatetravel route.

Exemplary End-User Device & GPS Comparison

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics (and/orother) data may be provided. The method may include (a) receivingtelematics data, at or by (1) a mobile device associated with a driver,and/or (2) a smart vehicle controller of a vehicle associated with thedriver, via wireless communication and/or data transmission; (b)analyzing or reviewing the telematics data, at or by the mobile device(or smart vehicle controller) to determine that a travel event exists(that is revealed by the telematics data); (c) comparing a GPS (GlobalPositioning System) location, at or by the mobile device (or smartvehicle controller), of the travel event (such as revealed by thetelematics data) with a current GPS location or current travel route ofthe mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller); (d) based upon thecomparison, determining if the travel event presents an issue or problemfor the driver of the vehicle, via the mobile device (or smart vehiclecontroller), such as by determining that the GPS location of the travelevent is located along or on the current travel route of the vehicle,and/or in a vicinity (e.g., within a predetermined distance (such as 5miles for highway travel, or 3 blocks for city street travel)) or aheadof the current GPS location of the mobile device (or smart vehiclecontroller); and/or (e) if so, automatically taking a preventive orcorrective action, at or via the mobile device (or smart vehiclecontroller) that alleviates a negative impact of the travel event on thedriver to facilitate safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel. Themethod may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the preventive or corrective action taken may be:generating or determining alert, at or via the mobile device (and/orsmart vehicle controller); presenting a visual alert, at or via themobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller), on a display or displayscreen associated with the mobile device (and/or smart vehiclecontroller); and/or providing an audio or audible alert, at or via themobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller).

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: generating,determining, or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids the GPSlocation of the travel event, at or via the mobile device (and/or smartvehicle controller); and/or presenting the alternative travel route, ator via the mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller), on a displayor display screen for use by the driver. Additionally or alternatively,the preventive or corrective action taken may be: generating,determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids thelocation of the travel event, at or via the mobile device (and/or smartvehicle controller); and/or automatically directing the vehicle to takeor follow the alternative travel route, at or via the mobile device(and/or smart vehicle controller), such as by directing an autonomousvehicle to take the alternate travel route.

Exemplary Smart Infrastructure or Remote Server

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics (and/orother) data 800 may be provided, as depicted by FIG. 8 . The method 800may include: (1) receiving telematics data, at or by a remote server,and/or smart infrastructure (or associated equipment or processors) 802,via wireless communication and/or data transmission, the telematics databeing generated, collected, and/or transmitted by (a) a mobile deviceassociated with a driver, and/or (b) a smart vehicle controller of avehicle associated with the driver; (2) analyzing or reviewing, at orvia the remote server and/or smart infrastructure, the telematics datareceived from the mobile device and/or smart vehicle controller todetermine that a travel event associated with the vehicle or driverexists (that is revealed by the telematics data) 804; (3) generating, ator via the remote server and/or smart infrastructure, a warning message(such as either visual or audible alert) associated with or detailingthe travel event 806; and/or (4) transmitting (via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission), at or from the remote serverand/or smart infrastructure, the warning message associated with ordetailing the travel event 808 to (i) a second mobile device associatedwith a second driver, and/or (ii) a second smart vehicle controller of asecond vehicle associated with the second driver such that telematicsdata generated and/or collected by one mobile device or vehicle may beused to facilitate safer driving and vehicle travel for other vehiclesand drivers. The method 808 may include additional, fewer, or alternateactions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For example, the remote server and/or smart infrastructure may further(i) determine or extract a GPS or other location of the travel event,(ii) determine vehicles in the vicinity of the travel event (such aswithin a certain distance, e.g., 1 or 2 miles), and/or (iii) transmitthe warning message to the vehicles in the vicinity of the travel event(or to mobile devices associated with owners of those vehicles). Theremote server and/or smart infrastructure may further (i) determine orextract a GPS or other location of the travel event, (ii) determinevehicles in the vicinity of the travel event, (iii) calculate ordetermine alternate routes for the vehicles in the vicinity of thetravel event (or to mobile devices associated with owners of thosevehicles), and/or (iv) transmit the alternate routes to the vehicles inthe vicinity of the travel event (or to mobile devices associated withowners of those vehicles) to facilitate re-routing traffic to safertravel routes using the telematics data gathered from an initial vehicleor mobile device involved with a travel event.

Exemplary Computer Server or Smart Infrastructure

In one aspect, a computer server (or smart infrastructure) configured tore-route traffic using telematics and/or other data may be provided. Thecomputer server may include (1) a receiver configured to receivetelematics data via wireless communication and/or data transmission, thetelematics data being generated and transmitted by a first mobile deviceand/or first vehicle; (2) a processor configured to analyze thetelematics data received to determine a travel or traffic eventsassociated with the first mobile device and/or first vehicle exists,wherein the processor is further configured to generate a warningmessage associated with the travel or traffic event (such as a virtual,visual, haptic, or audible alert); and/or (3) a transmitter configuredto transmit the warning message to a second mobile device and/or secondvehicle via wireless communication and/or data transmission tofacilitate safer travel of the second vehicle using telematics datagathered, collected, or generated by the first mobile device and firstvehicle. The processor may be configured to calculate or determine analternate route that bypasses the travel or traffic event, and direct atransmission of the alternate route to the second mobile device and/orsecond vehicle via wireless communication and/or data transmission. Thecomputer server and/or smart infrastructure may include additional,fewer, and/or alternate components (and functionality), including thosediscussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Source Mobile Device Generating & Transmitting The TelematicsData

In one aspect, a mobile device configured for telematics and/or otherdata collection, generation, and/or transmission may be provided. Themobile device may include (1) a processor configured to collectacceleration, braking, gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed,and/or location-related data of a traveling vehicle at least once everysecond (i.e., approximately constantly or otherwise periodically), theprocessor further configured to generate a broadcast and/or wirelesscommunication message that incorporates the acceleration, braking,gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-related datacollected; and/or (2) a transmitter configured to transmit via wirelesscommunication or data transmission the broadcast and/or wirelesscommunication message to nearby vehicles and/or roadside infrastructureto facilitate safer vehicle travel for other vehicles using thetelematics data of the traveling vehicle collected and transmitted bythe mobile device. The mobile device may be configured with additional,less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhereherein.

Exemplary End-User Device: Listening for Telematics Broadcast

In one aspect, a mobile device configured to listen for a telematicsdata transmission and then receive that transmission may be provided.The mobile device may include (1) a processor configured to listen for atelematics data broadcast or transmission transmitted by a nearbyvehicle and/or roadside infrastructure, the telematics data includingacceleration, braking, gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed,and/or location-related data of a traveling vehicle at least once everysecond (i.e., approximately, constantly or otherwise periodically), theprocessor further configured to turn on a receiver when it is determinedthat the telematics broadcast or transmission exists (and/or is withinreception range); and/or (2) a receiver configured to receive viawireless communication or data transmission the telematics databroadcast or transmission transmitted from the nearby vehicle and/orroadside infrastructure, wherein the processor is further configured toanalyze telematics data embedded within the telematics data broadcast ortransmission to determine (i) that a travel or traffic event associatedwith another vehicle has occurred; and/or (ii) a location of the travelor traffic event, and if a relevant travel or traffic event isdetermined by the processor to be in the vicinity (such as within a fewblocks or a few miles), and/or along a current route, of the mobiledevice or an associated vehicle, the processor takes or directs acorrective or preventive action to facilitate safer vehicle travel forthe vehicle by using the telematics data of another vehicle collectedand transmitted within the telematics data broadcast or transmission.The corrective or preventive action may be to generate a warning oralert (such as either visual or audible) to a driver of the vehicle. Thecorrective or preventive action may be to generate an alternate routefor the vehicle that avoids a GPS location of the travel or trafficevent, and/or then re-routes the vehicle to avoid the travel or trafficevent. The mobile device may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Remote Server

In one aspect, a remote server configured to use telematics and/or otherdata from one driver to facilitate safer vehicle travel for anotherdriver may be provided. The remote server may include (1) a receiver (ortransceiver) configured to receive a data transmission and/or wirelesscommunication containing or including telematics data, the telematicsdata being generated and/or transmitted from a first mobile deviceand/or first smart vehicle (associated with a first driver); (2) adatabase and/or memory unit storing vehicle navigation information,virtual road maps, and/or computer-readable instructions; (3) aprocessor configured to access the database and/or memory unit, whereinthe processor is configured to automatically identify or determine (i) atravel (or traffic) event; (ii) a GPS or other location of the travelevent; and/or (iii) an estimated or actual geographical and/or temporalscope of the travel event from computer analysis of the telematics data,the processor further being configured to generate a travelevent-related data transmission and/or wireless communication associatedwith, corresponding to, and/or detailing the travel event, and/orlocation and/or extent thereof; and/or (4) a transmitter (ortransceiver) configured to transmit the travel event-related datatransmission and/or wireless communication to a second mobile deviceand/or second smart vehicle (associated with a second driver of a secondvehicle) to facilitate the second mobile device and/or second smartvehicle taking corrective action to enable safer vehicle travel for thesecond driver based upon the telematics date associated with the firstdriver. The remote server may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein and/or below.

Exemplary Smart Road-Side Infrastructure

In another aspect, a smart road-side infrastructure processor or serverconfigured to use telematics and/or other data from one driver tofacilitate safer vehicle travel for another driver may be provided. Thesmart road-side infrastructure processor or server may include (1) areceiver (or transceiver) configured to receive a data transmissionand/or wireless communication containing or including telematics data,the telematics data being generated and/or transmitted from a firstmobile device or first smart vehicle (associated with a first driver);(2) a database and/or memory unit storing vehicle navigationinformation, virtual road maps, and/or computer-readable instructions;(3) a processor configured to access the database and/or memory unit,wherein the processor is configured to automatically identify ordetermine (i) a travel (or traffic) event; (ii) a GPS or other locationof the travel event; and/or (iii) an estimated or actual geographicaland/or temporal scope of the travel event from computer analysis of thetelematics data, the processor further being configured to generate atravel event-related data transmission and/or wireless communicationassociated with, corresponding to, and/or detailing the travel event,and/or location and/or extent thereof; and/or (4) a transmitter (ortransceiver) configured to transmit the travel event-related datatransmission and/or wireless communication to a second mobile deviceand/or second smart vehicle (associated with a second driver of a secondvehicle) to facilitate the second mobile device and/or second smartvehicle taking corrective action to enable safer vehicle travel for thesecond driver based upon the telematics date associated with the firstdriver. The smart road-side infrastructure may include additional, less,or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere hereinand/or below.

Exemplary Intermediate Mobile Device/Smart Vehicle

In one aspect, an intermediate mobile device or smart vehicle configuredto use telematics and/or other data from one driver to facilitate safervehicle travel for another driver may be provided. The intermediatemobile device or smart vehicle may include (1) a receiver (ortransceiver) configured to receive a data transmission and/or wirelesscommunication containing or including telematics data, the telematicsdata being generated and/or transmitted from a first (or source) mobiledevice or first (or source) smart vehicle (associated with a firstdriver); (2) a database and/or memory unit storing vehicle navigationinformation, virtual road maps, and/or computer-readable instructions;(3) a processor configured to access the database and/or memory unit,wherein the processor is configured to automatically identify ordetermine (i) a travel (or traffic) event; (ii) a GPS or other locationof the travel event; and/or (iii) an estimated or actual geographicaland/or temporal scope of the travel event from computer analysis of thetelematics data, the processor further being configured to generate atravel event-related data transmission and/or wireless communicationassociated with, corresponding to, and/or detailing the travel event,and/or location and/or extent thereof; and/or (4) a transmitter (ortransceiver) configured to transmit the travel event-related datatransmission and/or wireless communication to a second (or destination)mobile device and/or second (or destination) smart vehicle (associatedwith a second driver of a second vehicle), such as via peer-to-peer(P2P) communication, to facilitate the second (or destination) mobiledevice and/or second (or destination) smart vehicle taking correctiveaction to enable safer vehicle travel for the second driver based uponthe telematics data associated with the first driver. The intermediatemobile device or smart vehicle may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere hereinand/or directly below.

For instance, for the (a) remote server, (b) smart road-sideinfrastructure, and/or (c) intermediate mobile device or smart vehiclementioned above, the travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/ordetermined from telematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic,congestion, road construction, and/or weather conditions. The telematicsdata may include speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, laneinformation, and/or other data of, or associated with, the first mobiledevice and/or first smart vehicle. The telematics data may include time,braking, acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (GlobalPositioning System) speed, GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope,battery level, and/or telephone usage information or data of, orassociated with, the first mobile device and/or first smart vehicle.

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: generating ordetermining an alert, at or via the second mobile device and/or secondsmart vehicle (or second smart vehicle controller); presenting a visualalert, at or via the second mobile device and/or second smart vehicle(or second smart vehicle controller), on a display or display screenassociated with the mobile device (and/or smart vehicle controller);and/or providing an audible alert, at or via the second mobile deviceand/or second smart vehicle. The alert may be presented only after thesecond mobile device (or second smart vehicle or vehicle controller)determines that the travel event is relevant to the second vehicle, suchas by determining that a location of the travel event is in the vicinityof the second vehicle and/or along a route that the second vehicle ispresently traveling.

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: generating,determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids aGPS location of the travel (or traffic) event, at or via the secondmobile device and/or second smart vehicle (or vehicle controller);and/or presenting the alternative travel route, at or via the secondmobile device and/or second smart vehicle (or vehicle controller), on adisplay or display screen for use by the driver. Additionally oralternatively, the preventive or corrective action taken may be:generating, determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route thatavoids a GPS location of the travel (or traffic) event, at or via thesecond mobile device and/or second smart vehicle (or vehiclecontroller); and/or automatically directing the second vehicle to takeor follow the alternative travel route, at or via the second mobiledevice and/or second smart vehicle (or vehicle controller), such as bydirecting an autonomous vehicle to take the alternate travel route.

The (a) remote server, (b) smart road-side infrastructure, and/or (c)intermediate mobile device or smart vehicle may be configured to: listenfor a telematics data-related wireless communication and/or datatransmission, and when the telematics data-related wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission is detected and/or within range,then (i) receive the telematics data-related wireless communicationand/or data transmission; (ii) store associated telematics data in amemory unit; and/or (iii) relay or otherwise re-transmit the telematicsdata and/or the telematics data-related wireless communication and/ordata transmission to other listening devices, such as other vehicles,mobile device, remote servers, and/or smart infrastructure.

Exemplary Source Mobile Device

In one aspect, a mobile device configured to collect and transmittelematics data (such as when the mobile device is traveling in a movingvehicle associated with a first driver) may be provided. The mobiledevice may include one or more sensors or meters configured forcollecting and/or gathering telematics data; a memory unit storingcomputer readable instructions; a transceiver (or a receiver andtransmitter); and a processor interconnected or in communication withthe one or more sensors or meters; the memory unit; and/or thetransceiver. The processor may be configured to: receive telematics datafrom the one or more sensors or meters; analyze the telematics data, anddetermine or identify that a travel or traffic event exists; generate amessage (e.g., a data transmission or wireless communication) associatedwith the telematics data and/or detailing the type and/or extent of thetravel or traffic event; and/or direct a transmission of the message viadata transmission and/or wireless communication to another computingdevice (such as another mobile device, another vehicle, a remote server,and/or smart infrastructure processors or servers) to facilitate safertravel for another vehicle and/or a second driver based upon thetelematics data collected by the first mobile device.

The travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/or determined fromtelematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic, congestion, roadconstruction, and/or weather conditions. The telematics and/or otherdata may include speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, laneinformation, and/or other data of, or associated with, the first mobiledevice and/or first smart vehicle. The telematics and/or other data mayinclude time, braking, acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading, GPS(Global Positioning System) speed, GPS latitude and longitude,gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usage information or data of,or associated with, the mobile device and/or moving smart vehicle. Themobile device may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Source Smart Vehicle (or Smart Vehicle Controller)

In one aspect, a smart vehicle (or vehicle controller) configured tocollect and transmit telematics and/or other data (such as when thesmart vehicle is traveling, the smart vehicle being associated with afirst driver) may be provided. The smart vehicle (or vehicle controller)may include: one or more sensors or meters configured for collectingand/or gathering telematics data; a memory unit storing computerreadable instructions; a transceiver (or a receiver and transmitter);and/or a processor interconnected or in communication with the one ormore sensors or meters; the memory unit; and/or the transceiver. Theprocessor may be configured to: receive telematics data from the one ormore sensors or meters; analyze the telematics data, and determine oridentify that a travel or traffic event exists; generate a message(e.g., a data transmission or wireless communication) associated withthe telematics data and/or detailing the type and/or extent of thetravel or traffic event; and/or direct a transmission of the message viadata transmission and/or wireless communication to another computingdevice (such as a mobile device, another vehicle, a remote server,and/or smart infrastructure processors or servers) to facilitate safertravel for another vehicle and/or a second driver based upon thetelematics data collected by the smart vehicle (and/or smart vehiclecontroller).

The travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/or determined fromtelematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic, congestion, roadconstruction, and/or weather conditions. The telematics and/or otherdata may include speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, laneinformation, and/or other data of, or associated with, the smart vehicleand/or a mobile device of the driver. The telematics and/or other dataincludes time, braking, acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading,GPS (Global Positioning System) speed, GPS latitude and longitude,gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usage information or data of,or associated with, the smart vehicle. The smart vehicle (or vehiclecontroller) may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein, and/or discussed with mobiledevices, remote servers, and/or smart infrastructure.

Exemplary Destination Mobile Device

In one aspect, a mobile device configured to receive telematics and/orother data (such as when the mobile device is traveling in a movingvehicle associated with a first driver) and take corrective action whena travel event exists may be provided. The mobile device may include: amemory unit storing computer readable instructions; a transceiver (or areceiver and transmitter); and/or a processor interconnected or incommunication with the memory unit, and/or the transceiver. Theprocessor and/or transceiver may be configured to: receive telematicsdata generated from an originating vehicle (or mobile device travelingwithin the originating vehicle) or a telematics-related message via adata transmission and/or wireless communication; (i) analyze thetelematics data, and determine or identify that a travel (or traffic)event exists (that is associated with the originating vehicle) or (ii)otherwise determine that the travel event exists from analysis of thetelematics-related message; and/or when the travel event is determinedto exist, determine whether the travel event is relevant to the movingvehicle and/or a route that the moving vehicle is presently traveling,and if so, take or direct corrective action such that safer vehicletravel for the moving vehicle is facilitated based upon (a) thetelematics data that is collected by the originating vehicle and/or (b)information regarding the travel event that the originating vehicle hasencountered or is presently encountering.

The travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/or determined fromthe telematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic, congestion, roadconstruction, and/or weather conditions. The telematics and/or otherdata may include speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, laneinformation, and/or other data of, or associated with, the originatingvehicle or a mobile device traveling within the originating vehicle. Thetelematics and/or other data includes time, braking, acceleration, leftturn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed, GPSlatitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usageinformation or data of, or associated with, the originating vehicle or amobile device traveling within the originating vehicle. The correctiveaction may include (i) generating, displaying, and/or providing an alertfor the driver of the moving vehicle; and/or (ii) re-routing the movingvehicle to avoid an area associated with the travel event. The mobiledevice may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Destination Smart Vehicle

In one aspect, a smart vehicle (or smart vehicle controller) configuredto receive telematics and/or other data (such as when the smart vehicleis traveling, the smart vehicle being associated with a first driver)and take corrective action when a travel event exists may be provided.The smart vehicle (or smart vehicle controller) may include a memoryunit storing computer readable instructions, vehicle navigationinformation, and/or virtual road maps; a transceiver (or a receiver andtransmitter); and/or a processor interconnected or in communication withthe memory unit, and/or the transceiver. The processor and/ortransceiver may be configured to: receive telematics data generated froman originating vehicle (or mobile device traveling within theoriginating vehicle) or a telematics-related message via a datatransmission and/or wireless communication; (i) analyze the telematicsdata, and determine or identify that a travel (or traffic) event exists(that is associated with the originating vehicle) or (ii) otherwisedetermine that the travel event exists from analysis of thetelematics-related message; and/or when the travel event is determinedto exist, determine whether the travel event is relevant to the movingvehicle and/or a route that the moving vehicle is presently traveling(such as by comparing a GPS or other location of the travel event and apresent GPS or other location of the smart vehicle), and if so, take ordirect corrective action such that safer vehicle travel for the smartvehicle is facilitated based upon (a) the telematics data that iscollected by the originating vehicle and/or (b) information regardingthe travel event that the originating vehicle has encountered or ispresently encountering.

The travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/or determined fromthe telematics data that reveals) vehicle, traffic, congestion, roadconstruction, and/or weather conditions. The telematics data may includespeed, acceleration, deceleration, location, lane information, and/orother data of, or associated with, the originating vehicle or a mobiledevice traveling within the originating vehicle. The telematics data mayinclude time, braking, acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading, GPS(Global Positioning System) speed, GPS latitude and longitude,gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usage information or data of,or associated with, the originating vehicle or a mobile device travelingwithin the originating vehicle. The corrective action may include (i)generating, providing, and/or displaying an alert (such as either anaudible or visual alert or recommendation) for the driver of the movingvehicle; (ii) calculating another route to a destination that avoids thetravel event and/or displaying that route; (iii) receiving an alternateroute that avoids the travel event; and/or (iv) re-routing the movingvehicle to avoid an area associated with the travel event. The smartvehicle (or vehicle controller) may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein,and/or discussed with mobile devices, remote servers, and/or smartinfrastructure.

Insurance Applications

As noted herein, the present embodiments may be used to adjust, update,and/or generate insurance policies. Insurance policies, such as auto,usage-based, home, and/or household insurance policies, may be adjusted,updated, and/or generated for insureds or potential customers that havemobile devices and/or vehicles that are equipped or configured with oneor more of the functionalities discussed herein.

For instance, insureds or family members may have mobile devices and/orvehicle that are configured to receive telematics data associated withother vehicles and/or abnormal road or travel conditions that otherdrivers are experiencing. The telematics may be received directly fromother vehicles, or indirectly from smart infrastructure and/or insuranceprovider remote servers. As a result, the insureds and/or their familymembers may be timely notified of traffic or travel events and then maytake alternate routes (or even not drive or delay driving) to lowertheir risk of getting in an accident due to the traffic or travelevents. An insurance provider may promote or reward such risk aversebehavior and/or safer driving with lower insurance premiums, rates,and/or increased discounts, such as for usage-based or other types ofauto insurance.

Furthermore, an insurance provider may promote or reward the use of oneor more aspects described herein with lower insurance premiums, rates,and/or increased discounts. For example, an insurer may providediscounts or other incentives upon an insured customer installing anapplication to their mobile computing device that enables the mobilecomputing device to broadcast telematics data and/or to generate alertnotifications based upon telematics data received from other devices.

Additionally or alternatively, an insurer may provide discounts or otherincentives upon an amount that an insured customer uses the telematicsapplication on their mobile computing device that enables the mobilecomputing device to broadcast telematics data and/or to generate alertnotifications based upon telematics data received from other devices.Such usage-based discounts or incentives may be based upon amount oftime of, or number of miles of, use or usage, e.g., an amount of time ormiles that the insured drove during a specific period with a TelematicsApp running or executing on their mobile device (which was locatedwithin the insured vehicle as it travels), the Telematics App configuredto collect and broadcast telematics data, and/or to receive telematicsdata from other vehicles or devices, and generate alerts orrecommendations based upon the data received.

Originating Mobile Device Generating The Telematics Data

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of generating andbroadcasting telematics data may be provided. The method may include (1)generating or collecting telematics data at, or by, a originating orsource mobile device associated with a driver (or an associatedprocessor), the originating mobile device: (i) having a TelematicsApplication (or “App”) installed or stored locally in a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory unit, and (ii) is associated with a seconddriver, the telematics data including acceleration, braking, speed,heading, and location data associated with the operation of anoriginating vehicle. The method may include (2) generating, at or by theoriginating mobile device (or associated processor) or the TelematicsApp, an updated telematics data broadcast (or wireless communication)including up-to-date telematics data at least every few seconds; and/or(3) broadcasting, at or by the origination mobile device (or anassociated transceiver) or the Telematics App. The updated telematicsdata may be broadcast at least every few seconds via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission (or otherwise via a secureelectronic communication network requiring login credential electronicverification) to other computing devices (e.g., nearby vehicles, mobiledevices, smart infrastructure, or remote servers) to facilitate theother computing devices (i) determining that an abnormal travelcondition (or traffic event) exists from the analysis of the telematicsdata received from the originating mobile device having the TelematicsApp, and (ii) when the abnormal travel condition (or traffic event)exists, automatically taking a preventive or corrective action, such asat or via a destination mobile device or smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor), that alleviates a negative impact of the abnormaltravel condition (or traffic event) on the driver and/or the destinationvehicle. As a result, safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel may beachieved.

The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein, and/or may be implemented by one ormore processors, and/or via computer-executable instructions stored onnon-transitory computer-readable medium or media. For instance, theTelematics App, and/or the telematics data generated by the TelematicsApp on the originating mobile device, may indicate that the originatingvehicle is experiencing high traffic conditions, congestion, roadconstruction, or extreme weather conditions, such as from analysis ofthe telematics data. The telematics data may include speed,acceleration, deceleration, GPS location, lane information, and/or otherdata of, or associated with, the originating vehicle. Additionally oralternatively, the telematics data may include time, braking,acceleration, left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global PositioningSystem) speed, GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level,and/or telephone usage information or data of, or associated with, theoriginating vehicle.

The preventive or corrective action taken by the destination mobiledevice or vehicle may be: (1) generating or determining an alert, at orvia the destination mobile device or smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor); (2) presenting a visual alert, at or via adestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller, on a display ordisplay screen associated with the destination mobile device or smartvehicle controller, respectively; and/or (3) providing an audio oraudible alert, at or via a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller (or an associated processor). Additionally or alternatively,the preventive or corrective action taken may be: (i) generating,determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids aGPS location of the travel or traffic event, at or via a destinationmobile device or smart vehicle controller; (ii) presenting thealternative travel route, at or via the destination mobile device orsmart vehicle controller, on a display or display screen for use by thedriver; and/or (iii) providing audio driving directions for thedestination vehicle or driver to travel along the alternate route.

The telematics data may be generated and/or collected by the originatingmobile device (and/or the Telematics App executing thereon). Thetelematics data may be (1) transmitted from a transceiver mounted on, orwithin, the originating mobile device indirectly or directly to adestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller via peer-to-peer(P2P) wireless communication and/or data transmission, or via a secureelectronic communication network; (2) transmitted from the originatingmobile device directly (or indirectly) to a remote server (such as aninsurance provider remote server), and then relayed or transmitted fromthe remote server to a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller via wireless communication and/or data transmission; and/or(3) transmitted from the originating mobile device directly (orindirectly) to smart infrastructure (such as a smart stop sign, smartstreet sign, smart toll both, and/or smart road-side equipment, markers,or reflectors), and then relayed or transmitted from the smartinfrastructure to a destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller via wireless communication or data transmission. Thetelematics data may be transmitted over a secure electronic or wirelesscommunication network.

The computer-implemented method may also include, with customerpermission or affirmative consent, (i) determining or identifying, byone or more processors associated with an insurance provider remoteserver, an insured customer having a mobile device configured with thetelematics data-based risk mitigation or prevention functionalitydiscussed herein and/or the Telematics App; (ii) monitoring, by the oneor more processors associated with the remote server, a time amountand/or mileage amount that the insured customer drives an insuredvehicle with the telematics data-based risk mitigation or preventionfunctionality discussed herein, or the Telematics App, enabled and/orexecuting on their mobile device; and/or (iii) adjusting or modifying,by the one or more processors associated with the remote server, aninsurance policy, premium, or discount for the insured customer basedupon their usage and/or amount that they use or employ the telematicsdata-based risk mitigation or prevention functionality and/or TelematicsApp, such as generating a usage-based discount that is tied to an amountthat the telematics data-based risk mitigation or preventionfunctionality (including generating, collecting, and/or broadcasting(and/or even receiving) telematics data as discussed herein, and/orgenerating appropriate alerts or recommendations from the telematicsdata) is used or otherwise employed.

In another aspect, a source or originating mobile device configured tocollect, generate, and/or transmit telematics data (such as when themobile device is traveling in a moving vehicle associated with a driver)may be provided. The mobile device may include (1) one or more sensorsor meters configured for collecting and/or gathering telematics data;(2) a memory unit storing computer readable instructions; (3) atransceiver (or a receiver and transmitter); and/or (4) one or moreprocessors interconnected or in communication with the one or moresensors or meters; the memory unit; and/or the transceiver. The one ormore processors may execute a Telematics Application (“App”) or may beotherwise configured to: (i) receive telematics data from the one ormore sensors or meters, the telematics data including acceleration,braking, gyroscope, compass heading, turning, speed, and/orlocation-related data; (ii) generate an updated broadcast (or wirelesscommunication) incorporating the telematics data at least every coupleof seconds; and/or (iii) direct a transmission of the updated broadcastas often as the broadcast is updated (e.g., every 1-3 seconds) via amobile device transceiver using data transmission or wirelesscommunication to another computing (or destination) device (such as anearby vehicle, mobile device, remote server, and/or smartinfrastructure processors or servers). As a result, safer travel may befacilitated for another vehicle and/or a second driver based uponcomputer analysis (at or via the destination device) of the telematicsdata contained within the updated broadcast and collected or generatedby the originating mobile device. The mobile device may includeadditional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussedelsewhere herein.

The one or more processors and/or Telematics App executing thereon maybe further configured to: analyze the telematics data, and determine oridentify that a travel or traffic event exists; generate a message(e.g., a data transmission or wireless communication) associated withthe telematics data and/or detailing the type or extent of the travel ortraffic event; and/or broadcast the message along with the updatedbroadcast to other computing devices in the vicinity or otherwise withinbroadcast range. The travel (or traffic) event may be based upon (and/ordetermined from telematics data that reveals) that the originatingvehicle is experiencing abnormal vehicle, traffic, congestion, roadconstruction, and/or weather conditions.

The telematics data may further include time, braking, acceleration,left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed,GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephoneusage information or data of, or associated with, the mobile deviceand/or moving smart vehicle. The Telematics App further may direct theoriginating mobile device to periodically “listen” for a broadcastcontaining telematics data generated from other vehicles or other mobiledevices, or use polling techniques to download data or broadcasts fromother computing devices, and when such a broadcast is detected oravailable, download the broadcast and analyze the telematics datacontained therein. The Telematics App may further direct the originatingmobile device to generate an alert when processor analysis of thetelematics data received within a broadcast indicates that a traffic ortravel event exists along a route that the originating vehicle ispresently traveling, such as a route stored in a vehicle navigationunit.

In another aspect, an originating mobile device configured fortelematics data collection, generation, and/or transmission may beprovided. The originating mobile device may include one or moreprocessors and/or a Telematics Application (“App”) executing therein.The one or more processors and/or Telematics App may be configured to:(1) collect or generate telematics data as a vehicle is traveling, thetelematics data including acceleration, braking, gyroscope, compassheading, turning, speed, and/or location-related data; (2) generate abroadcast (or wireless communication or date transmission message) thatincorporates the telematics data collected at least once every fewseconds (i.e., approximately constantly or otherwise periodically);and/or (3) direct the transmission of each updated broadcast at leastonce every few (e.g., 2-3) seconds via a transceiver using wirelesscommunication or data transmission to nearby vehicles, mobile devices,and roadside infrastructure (destination devices) to facilitate safervehicle travel for other vehicles via computer analysis (at thedestination devices) of the telematics data of the traveling vehiclecollected and transmitted by the mobile device to other nearby computingdevices. The originating mobile device may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the travel (or traffic) event is based upon (and/ordetermined from telematics data that reveals or indicates) that theoriginating vehicle is, or may be, experiencing abnormal vehicle,traffic, congestion, road construction, and/or weather conditions. Thetelematics data may further include time, braking, acceleration, leftturn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed, GPSlatitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephone usageinformation or data of, or associated with, the mobile device and/ormoving smart vehicle.

The Telematics App may direct the originating mobile device toperiodically listen for a broadcast containing telematics data generatedfrom other vehicles or other mobile devices, and when such a broadcastis detected, download the broadcast and analyze the telematics datacontained therein. The Telematics App may further direct the originatingmobile device to generate an alert when processor analysis of thetelematics data received within a broadcast indicates that a traffic ortravel event exists along a route that the originating vehicle ispresently traveling.

Destination Device Receiving The Telematics Data

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics datamay be provided. The method may include: (a) receiving telematics data,at or by (1) a destination mobile device associated with a driver (or anassociated transceiver of the destination mobile device), or (2) a smartvehicle controller (or an associated transceiver) of a destinationvehicle associated with the driver, via wireless communication and/ordata transmission (or otherwise via a secure electronic communicationnetwork requiring login credential electronic verification), thetelematics data being generated by an originating mobile device. Theoriginating mobile device: (i) having a Telematics Application (or“App”) installed or stored locally in a non-transitory computer-readablememory unit, and/or (ii) is associated with the driver, the telematicsdata including acceleration, braking, speed, heading, and location dataassociated with the operation of an originating vehicle. The method mayalso include (b) analyzing the telematics data, at or via thedestination mobile device or the smart vehicle controller (or aprocessor associated therewith); (c) determining, at or via thedestination mobile device or the smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor), that an abnormal travel condition (or trafficevent) exists from the analysis of the telematics data received from theoriginating mobile device having the Telematics App; and/or (d) when theabnormal travel condition (or traffic event) exists, automaticallytaking or generating a preventive or corrective action, at or via thedestination mobile device or the smart vehicle controller (or anassociated processor), that alleviates a negative impact of the abnormaltravel condition (or traffic event) on the driver and/or the destinationvehicle to facilitate safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel. Themethod may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the abnormal condition may be based upon, or otherwisedetermined from processor analysis of the telematics data received fromthe originating mobile device having the Telematics App, and thatreveals that the originating vehicle is, or may likely be, experiencinghigh traffic conditions, congestion, road construction, or extremeweather conditions. The telematics data may (1) be generated and/orcollected by the originating mobile device (or an associated processor)associated with an originating driver, and (2) include speed,acceleration, deceleration, GPS location, lane information, and/or otherdata of, or associated with, the originating vehicle. Additionally oralternatively, the telematics data may (1) be generated and/or collectedby the originating mobile device (or an associated processor) associatedwith an originating driver, and (2) include time, braking, acceleration,left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed,GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope, battery level, and/or telephoneusage information or data of, or associated with, the originatingvehicle.

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: (i) generating ordetermining an alert, at or via the destination mobile device or smartvehicle controller (or an associated processor); (ii) presenting avisual alert, at or via the destination mobile device or smart vehiclecontroller, on a display or display screen associated with thedestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller, respectively;and/or (iii) providing an audio or audible alert, at or via thedestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller (or an associatedprocessor). The alert may be presented or provided only after thedestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller determines thatthe abnormal travel condition (or traffic event) is relevant to thedestination vehicle, such as by determining that a location of theabnormal travel condition (or traffic event) is in the vicinity of thedestination vehicle and/or along a route that the destination vehicle ispresently traveling.

The preventive or corrective action taken may be: (a) generating,determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route that avoids aGPS location of the travel or traffic event, at or via the destinationmobile device or smart vehicle controller; and/or (b) presenting thealternative travel route, at or via the destination mobile device orsmart vehicle controller, on a display or display screen for use by thedriver; and/or providing audio driving directions for the destinationvehicle to travel along the alternate route. Additionally oralternatively, the preventive or corrective action taken may be: (c)generating, determining, and/or receiving an alternate travel route thatavoids a GPS location of the travel or traffic event, at or via thedestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller; and/or (d)automatically directing the destination vehicle to take or follow thealternative travel route, at or via the destination mobile device orsmart vehicle controller, wherein the destination vehicle is anautonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle that drives itself (via one ormore processors) along the alternate travel route.

The telematics data may be (1) generated and/or collected by theoriginating mobile device (or the Telematics App executing thereon), and(2) transmitted from a transceiver mounted on, or within, theoriginating mobile device indirectly or directly to destination mobiledevice or smart vehicle controller via peer-to-peer (P2P) wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission, or via a secure electroniccommunication network, the telematics data being repeatedly broadcastfrom the transceiver mounted on, or within, the originating mobiledevice at least every few seconds. Additionally or alternatively, thetelematics data may be (3) transmitted from the originating mobiledevice directly to a remote server (such as an insurance provider remoteserver), and then relayed or transmitted from the remote server to thedestination mobile device or smart vehicle controller via wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission; and/or (4) transmitted from theoriginating mobile device directly to smart infrastructure (such as asmart stop sign, smart street sign, smart toll both, and/or smartroad-side equipment, markers, or reflectors), and then relayed ortransmitted from the smart infrastructure to the destination mobiledevice or smart vehicle controller via wireless communication or datatransmission. The telematics data may be repeatedly broadcast from thetransceiver mounted on, or within, the originating mobile device atleast every few seconds, such as when it has new data to transmit, orwhen driving conditions have changed.

The method may also include, with customer permission or affirmativeconsent, (i) determining or identifying, by one or more processorsassociated with an insurance provider remote server, an insured customerhaving a mobile device configured with the telematics data-based riskmitigation or prevention functionality discussed herein and/or theTelematics App (or is otherwise capability of receiving and thenanalyzing the telematics data as explained herein); (ii) monitoring, bythe one or more processors associated with the remote server, a timeamount and/or mileage amount that the insured customer drives an insuredvehicle with the risk mitigation or prevention functionality discussedherein, or the Telematics App, enabled and/or executing on their mobiledevice; and/or (iii) adjusting or modifying, by the one or moreprocessors associated with the remote server, an insurance policy,premium, or discount for the insured customer based upon their usageand/or amount that they use, or employ, the risk mitigation orprevention functionality and/or Telematics App, such as generating ausage-based discount that is tied to an amount that the risk mitigationor prevention functionality (including the capability of receiving andanalyzing the telematics data as discussed herein, and/or generatingappropriate alerts or recommendations) is used.

In another aspect, a destination computer system configured to usetelematics data may be provided. The destination computer system mayinclude: (1) a destination mobile device associated with a driver (or anassociated processor and/or transceiver of the destination mobiledevice), or (2) a smart vehicle controller (or an associated processorand/or transceiver) of a destination vehicle associated with the driverconfigured to: (a) receive telematics data, via wireless communicationand/or data transmission (or otherwise via a secure electroniccommunication network requiring login credential electronicverification), the telematics data being generated by an originatingmobile device and the originating mobile device: (i) having a TelematicsApplication (or “App”) installed or stored locally in a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory unit, and (ii) is associated with a seconddriver, the telematics data including acceleration, braking, speed,heading, and location data associated with the operation of anoriginating vehicle; (b) analyze the telematics data; (c) determine thatan abnormal travel condition (or traffic event) exists from the analysisof the telematics data received from the originating mobile devicehaving the Telematics App; (d) determine that the abnormal travelcondition (or traffic event) is along a route that the destinationvehicle is currently traveling or ahead of a direction of travel of thedestination vehicle; and/or (e) when the abnormal travel condition (ortraffic event) exists and is along the route (or otherwise ahead) of thedestination vehicle, automatically take or generate a preventive orcorrective action that alleviates a negative impact of the abnormaltravel condition (or traffic event) on the driver and/or the destinationvehicle to facilitate safer and/or more efficient vehicle travel. Thedestination computer system may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Source Smart Vehicle (or Smart Vehicle Controller)

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary smart vehicle controlsystem 900 in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure. In the present aspect, smart vehicle control system 900 maybe implemented as any suitable computing device, such as a computingdevice that is integrated as part of a smart vehicle to facilitateautonomous driving and/or other smart driving functions. For example,smart vehicle control system may be integrated as part of one or morevehicles 201.1-202.N, as shown in FIG. 2 , to provide such vehicles withsuch functions. Smart driving functions may include, for example, thegeneration, receipt, collection, storage, and/or transmission oftelematics data, such as previously discussed above with reference to onboard computer 114, as shown in FIG. 1 .

Smart vehicle control system 900 may include a sensor array 926, acommunication unit 930, a smart vehicle controller 940, one or morevehicle sensors 945, and/or a driving control system 950, one or more ofwhich may be configured to communicate with one another to receive datafrom, and send data to, each another. Smart vehicle control system 900may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including thatdiscussed elsewhere herein, and/or discussed with reference to mobilecomputing devices, remote servers, and/or smart infrastructure.

In one aspect, sensor array 926, communication unit 930, and smartvehicle controller 940 may have a similar architecture, implementation,and/or perform similar functions as sensor array 326, communication unit330, and smart vehicle controller 340, respectively, as previouslydiscussed above with reference to FIG. 3 . Therefore, only differencesbetween sensor array 926, communication unit 930, and smart vehiclecontroller 940, as shown in FIG. 5 , and sensor array 326, communicationunit 330, and smart vehicle controller 340, as shown in FIG. 3 , will befurther discussed herein.

For instance, it will be appreciated that some differences betweensensor array 926, communication unit 930, and smart vehicle controller940, as shown in FIG. 9 , and sensor array 326, communication unit 330,and smart vehicle controller 340, as shown in FIG. 3 , respectively, maybe due to differences between applications and design requirements ofmobile computing devices and vehicle controllers. For example, smartvehicle controller 940 may include one or more microprocessors, programmemory, RAM, I/O interfaces, etc. However, smart vehicle controller 940may include faster microprocessors, additional memory, faster memorycontrollers, etc., than that of controller 340 to account for theadditional processing and speed requirements associated with the higherprocessing functions of smart vehicles. To provide another example,smart vehicle controller 940 may include one or more processorsspecifically designed for adaptive vision processing at high speedsand/or utilizing parallel processing techniques.

Likewise, sensor array 926 may have additional or alternative sensorsand/or meters than sensor array 326, which may be any suitable numberand/or type of sensors and/or meters to facilitate autonomous driving.Examples of sensors included in sensor array 926 may include, forexample, radar at any suitable number or range of wavelengths (e.g.,millimeter-waves), LiDAR, ultrasonic sensors, etc.

Vehicle sensors 945 may include, for example, any suitable number and/ortype of vehicle sensors and/or meters integrated into the vehicle inwhich smart vehicle control system 900 is installed or otherwiseimplemented. For example, vehicle sensors 945 may generate one or moresensor metrics or other data that is part of the telematics data stored,collected, and/or broadcasted from smart vehicle control system 900(e.g., via communication unit 930). In some aspects, vehicle sensors 945may sample sensor metrics or other information that is included as partof the telematics data, as discussed elsewhere herein, while sensorarray 926 is implemented as one or more sensors associated withautonomous driving functions. Thus, in aspects in which smart vehiclecontrol system 900 is implemented as part of a non-autonomous vehicle,vehicle sensors 945 and sensor array 926 may be implemented as a singlesensor array.

Communication unit 930 may be configured to transmit telematics dataincluding one or more sensor metrics or other information generated byvehicle sensors 945 and/or sensor array 926, which may be received byother mobile computing devices, other smart vehicles, and/or externalcomputing devices, as discussed elsewhere herein. Additionally oralternatively, communication unit 930 may be configured to receivetelematics data from other mobile computing devices, other smartvehicles, and/or external computing devices, as discussed elsewhereherein.

When transmitting telematics data, smart vehicle controller 940 may beconfigured to format the sensor metrics and/or other informationgenerated, collected, and/or measured by vehicle sensors 945 and/orsensor array 926 into a telematics data broadcast, determine whether thetelematics data should be updated, and/or broadcast the telematics data.Additionally or alternatively, smart vehicle controller 940 may beconfigured to analyze the telematics data to identify one or moreanomalies, travel event, traffic events, and/or alerts, to generate oneor more messages associated with the telematics data and/or detailingthe type and/or extent of an identified anomaly, travel or trafficevent, and/or alert, etc.

Furthermore, smart vehicle controller 940 may be configured to broadcastor otherwise direct a transmission of the message via data transmissionand/or wireless communication (e.g., via communication unit 930) toanother computing device (such as a mobile computing device, anothervehicle, a remote server, smart infrastructure processors or servers,etc.). As further discussed herein, devices receiving the telematicsdata and/or message may utilize the telematics data to perform variousfunctions, issue alerts to drivers, etc. In this way, the telematicsdata and/or messages transmitted by smart vehicle control system 900 mayfacilitate safer travel for another vehicle and/or another driver.

Similar to the other devices described above (e.g., with reference tomobile computing device 300 in FIG. 3 ), when receiving telematics data,smart vehicle controller 940 may be configured to perform variousfunctions such as issuing alerts to drivers when telematics datacontains a warning message and/or identifying a travel (or traffic)event by analyzing the received telematics data.

Driving control system 950 may be configured with any suitable numberand/or type of driving controllers to control the direction, movement,and/or speed of the vehicle in which smart vehicle control system 900 isinstalled. For example, driving control system 950 may include variousdrive-by-wire interfaces to facilitate controlling the speed of thevehicle and to turn the vehicle without user input. To provide anadditional example, driving control system may include various brakingcontrollers and/or transmission controllers to slow the vehicle and toshift the vehicle into different gears.

In accordance with an aspect, smart vehicle controller 940 maycommunicate with one or more components of driving control system 950 inresponse to telematics data, information, and/or messages received viacommunication unit 930. For example, if the telematics data indicates aroad hazard at a certain location and/or in a certain road lane, thensmart vehicle controller 940 may issue one or more commands to drivingcontrol system 950 to steer the vehicle into a clear lane, thus avoidingthe road hazard.

Again, as discussed elsewhere herein, the travel (or traffic) event maybe based upon (and/or determined from telematics data that reveals)vehicle, abnormal traffic conditions, congestion, road construction,and/or weather conditions. The telematics and/or other data may include,for example, speed, acceleration, deceleration, location, laneinformation, and/or other data of, or associated with, the smartvehicle, a mobile computing device located in the smart vehicle, and/orthe driver of the smart vehicle. To provide additional examples, thetelematics and/or other data may include time, braking, acceleration,left turn, right turn, heading, GPS (Global Positioning System) speed,GPS latitude and longitude, gyroscope data (e.g., angular velocitydata), battery level, and/or telephone usage information or data of, orassociated with, the smart vehicle.

Exemplary Method of Periodically Broadcasting Telematics Data From anOrignating Mobile Computing Device

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary computer-implemented method 1000 ofperiodically broadcasting telematics data and other data from anoriginating mobile computing device. In the present aspect, the method1000 may be implemented by any suitable computing device (e.g., mobilecomputing devices 204.1 and 204.2, external computing device 206,vehicles 202.1 and 202.1, and/or infrastructure component 208, as shownin FIG. 2 ). In one aspect, the method 600 may be performed by one ormore processors, applications, and/or routines, such as any suitableportion of controller 340, software applications 344, and/or softwareroutines 352, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 .

The method 1000 may start when one or more processors generate orcollect telematics data including a location and operation of a vehicle(block 1002). The location of the vehicle may be identified by thetelematics data, for example, via geographic coordinates that may begenerated via a location acquisition unit, as previously discussed withreference to FIG. 3 . Furthermore, the telematics data may includeinformation identifying the operation of a vehicle, such as thevehicle’s speed, heading, acceleration, cornering, braking, etc., asdiscussed elsewhere herein.

In the present aspect, telematics data may be generated by anoriginating mobile computing device located in a vehicle (block 1002).But in other aspects, the telematics data may be received and collectedfrom another computing device that generates the telematics data. Forexample, a mobile computing device in a vehicle may receive telematicsdata generated by a vehicle’s on board computer (block 1002). To provideanother example, an external computing device (e.g., external computingdevice 206) may receive telematics data from a mobile computing deviceand/or a vehicle’s on board computer (or smart vehicle controller),either or both of which may generate the telematics data (block 1002).

The method 1000 may include one or more processors determining whetherthe telematics data should be updated (block 1004). This may include,for example, a determination of whether additional telematics datashould be stored in a memory, whether previously stored telematics datashould be overwritten with new telematics data, and/or whether thetelematics data to be included in a broadcast should be updated (block1004). In various aspects, this determination may be made based upon oneor more conditions being satisfied (block 1004). For example, thetelematics data may be sampled and updated in accordance with aperiodically recurring schedule or sampling rate (e.g., five times persecond, every second, once every 5 seconds, once every ten seconds,etc.) while a Telematics App installed on a mobile computing device isrunning. In such a case, method 1000 may include determining that thetelematics data should be updated in accordance with the schedule orsampling rate (block 1004).

To provide another example, the determination may be made based upon ananalysis of telematics data that has already been generated, received,and/or stored in memory (block 1004). That is, the determination may bebased upon telematics data changing by a certain threshold amount (± 2%,±5%, etc.) from a previously sampled value. In this way, the telematicsdata may only be updated when it is necessary to do so, therebyproviding increased power efficiency.

If it is determined that the telematics data should be updated, thenmethod 1000 may continue (block 1006). Otherwise, method 1000 may revertto the process of generating, receiving, collecting, and/or storing thetelematics data (block 1002).

The method 600 may include one or more processors updating thetelematics data to reflect changes in the location and operation of thevehicle (block 1006). In one aspect, this may include overwritingpreviously stored telematics data with updated values or information.These aspects may be particularly useful, for example, when it isdesirable to utilize a small amount of memory for storing the telematicsdata and/or the telematics data broadcasts include data accessed fromthe same portion of memory, which is overwritten as new telematics datais acquired.

In another aspect, the telematics data may be updated to includeadditional data appended to previously stored values, which may form atelematics data log. The telematics data logged in such a manner may bestored as a rolling buffer, with the oldest telematics data beingcontinuously replaced while new telematics data is added to memory.These aspects may be particularly useful, for example, when a largeramount of telematics data is desired for a particular type of analysis,such as those utilizing changes in the location of a vehicle over time.

The method 1000 may include one or more processors determining whether anew telematics data broadcast should occur (block 1008). In one aspect,the determination may be made in accordance with a periodicallyrecurring schedule (e.g., every 10 seconds, every 30 seconds, everyminute, etc.) (block 1008). Such aspects may be particularly useful, forexample, when it is desirable to continue receiving communications fromvarious mobile computing devices in a continuous manner, such that alocation, status, or other data may be continuously monitored.

In another aspect, the determination may be made based upon whether thetelematics data has been updated (block 1004) in accordance with thevarious aforementioned conditions (block 1008). That is, aspects includethe telematics data being broadcasted in a manner such that newbroadcasts are timed or otherwise synchronized to the new telematicsdata being updated (block 1008).

If it is determined that new telematics data should be broadcasted, thenmethod 1000 may continue (block 1010). Otherwise, method 1000 may revertto the process of generating, receiving, collecting, and/or storing thetelematics data (block 1002).

The method 1000 may include one or more processors broadcasting updatedtelematics data in a new broadcast (block 1010). For example, thetelematics data may be broadcasted in accordance with any suitablecommunication protocol and/or standard (block 1010). In this way, eachbroadcast may include up-to-date telematics data that indicates changesin the location and/or operation of a vehicle from previous broadcasts(block 1008). The method may include additional, less, or alternateactions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Method of Generating & Transmitting Telematics Data

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of using telematics (and/orother) data may be provided. The method may include one or moreprocessors of an originating mobile computing device (1) generating orcollecting telematics data via an originating mobile computing deviceassociated with a driver driving an originating vehicle, the telematicsdata including data indicative of a location and operation of theoriginating vehicle; (2) generating updated telematics data in arecurring periodic manner such that the updated telematics data includesup-to-date data with respect to changes in the location and operation ofthe originating vehicle; and (3) broadcasting, the updated telematicsdata broadcast in a recurring periodic manner to facilitate alertinganother vehicle or driver of an abnormal traffic condition or event thatthe originating vehicle is experiencing.

For instance, the telematics data may indicate that the originatingvehicle is experiencing a condition such as high traffic, congestion,road construction, and/or extreme weather conditions. The telematicsdata may include various metrics such as those indicative of speed,acceleration, deceleration, Global Positioning System (GPS) geographiccoordinates, GPS speed, road lane information associated with theoriginating vehicle, time, braking, data indicating the originatingvehicle turning, angular velocity, a battery level of the originatingmobile computing device, telephone usage associated with the originatingmobile computing device or the originating vehicle, etc.

The telematics data may be received by one or more computing device,such as a destination mobile computing device or a destination vehicle,which may utilize the telematics data to facilitate the destinationmobile computing device or the destination vehicle (i) determining thatan abnormal traffic condition exists at the location of the originatingvehicle, and (ii) automatically take a preventive or corrective actionwhen the abnormal traffic condition is detected. The preventive orcorrective action taken may include, for example, (1) generating ordetermining an alert, at or via (i) the destination mobile computingdevice or (ii) the destination vehicle; (2) issuing a visual alert, ator via (i) the destination mobile computing device or (ii) thedestination vehicle; (3) providing an audio or audible alert, at or via(i) the destination mobile computing device or (ii) the destinationvehicle; (4) identifying an alternate travel route that avoids thelocation of the abnormal traffic condition, at or via (i) thedestination mobile computing device or (ii) the destination vehicle; (5)presenting an alternative travel route on a display or display screenfor use by a driver of the destination vehicle, at or via (i) thedestination mobile computing device or (ii) the destination vehicle; and(6) providing audio driving directions for the destination vehicle totravel along the alternate route, at or via (i) the destination mobilecomputing device or (ii) the destination vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, the telematics data may be transmittedfrom the originating mobile computing device indirectly or directly to adestination mobile computing device or a smart vehicle controllerassociated with a destination vehicle. In such a case, the telematicsmay be transmitted between the originating mobile computing device andone of (i) the destination mobile computing device or (ii) thedestination vehicle via (i) peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless communications,or (ii) via a secure electronic communication network.

Additionally or alternatively, the telematics may be transmitted fromthe originating mobile computing device indirectly or directly to adestination mobile computing device or smart vehicle controllerassociated with a destination vehicle via a remote server. The remoteserver may, upon receiving the telematics data from the originatingmobile computing device, relay the telematics data to the destinationmobile computing devices or smart vehicle controller via wirelesscommunications.

The method may also include one or more processors identifying aninsured customer having the originating mobile computing deviceconfigured with the telematics data-based risk mitigation or preventionfunctionality, and adjusting an insurance policy, premium, or discountfor the insured customer based upon the insured customer having theoriginating mobile computing device equipped with or configured to havethe telematics data-based risk mitigation or prevention functionality.The method may also include monitoring a usage amount that the insuredcustomer drives an insured vehicle while the telematics data-based riskmitigation or prevention functionality is performed on the originatingmobile computing device, and adjusting an insurance policy, premium, ordiscount for the insured customer based upon the usage amount.

Additionally or alternatively, the method may include one or moreprocessors transmitting the telematics data from the originating mobilecomputing device indirectly or directly to a smart infrastructurecomponent. Upon receiving the telematics data, the smart infrastructurecomponent may relay the telematics data to the destination mobilecomputing devices or a smart vehicle controller associated with thedestination vehicle via wireless communications. The method may includeadditional, less, or alternate steps, including those discussedelsewhere herein.

Exemplary Source Mobile Computing Devices

In another aspect, an originating mobile computing device may beprovided. The originating mobile computing device may be configured tocollect, generate, and/or transmit telematics data. The originatingmobile computing device may include (1) a sensor array configured tocollect telematics data including acceleration, braking, gyroscope,compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-related data; (2) amemory unit configured to store computer readable instructions thereonincluding a telematics application; and (3) a processor interconnectedor in communication with the sensor array, the memory unit, and acommunication unit, the processor upon being configured to execute thetelematics application to (i) receive the telematics data from thesensory array, and (ii) to cause the communication unit to broadcast thetelematics data in accordance with a periodic recurring schedule as atelematics broadcast, the telematics data being updated to includechanges in the acceleration, braking, gyroscope, compass heading,turning, speed, and/or location-related data. The telematics data, uponbeing received by another computing device, may facilitate safer travelfor another vehicle or driver based upon computer analysis of thetelematics data contained within the broadcast.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be further configuredto (1) analyze the telematics data to determine whether a travel ortraffic event exists; (2) generate a message indicating the type orextent of the travel or traffic event; and (3) cause the communicationunit to broadcast the message with the updated broadcast. In accordancewith such aspects, the processor may analyze image data captured via thesensor array to determine whether the travel or traffic event exists.

Furthermore, aspects include the originating mobile computing devicebeing located in an originating vehicle, and the telematics data mayinclude data indicating, for example, (1) that the originating vehicleis experiencing abnormal vehicle traffic; (2) the originating vehicle isexperiencing abnormal vehicle traffic congestion; (3) the originatingvehicle is experiencing road construction; (4) the originating vehicleis experiencing abnormal weather conditions; (5) an anomalous objectposing a risk to a driver; (6) current weather conditions associatedwith the originating vehicle; (7) Global Positioning System GPS speed;(8) GPS geographic coordinates; (9) time; (10) road lane informationassociated with the originating vehicle; (11) a battery level of theoriginating mobile computing device; (12) telephone usage associatedwith the originating mobile computing device or the originating vehicle,etc.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be further configuredto, upon executing the telematics application, periodically listen for abroadcast containing telematics data generated and transmitted fromother vehicles or other mobile computing devices, and upon detecting abroadcast, to download the broadcast and analyze the telematics datacontained therein for potential traffic or travel events. When thetelematics data received in a broadcast indicates that a traffic ortravel event exists along a route that the originating vehicle ispresently traveling, the processor may cause the originating mobilecomputing device to generate an alert. The mobile computing devices maybe configured with additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Originating Mobile Device Generating the Telematics Data

In still another aspect, an originating mobile computing device may beprovided, which may be configured for telematics data collection,generation, and/or transmission. The originating mobile computing devicemay include one or more processors and a memory, which may have atelematics application stored thereon. The one or more processors may beconfigured to execute the telematics application to (1) collect orgenerate telematics data as an originating vehicle is traveling, thetelematics data including acceleration, braking, gyroscope, compassheading, turning, speed, and/or location-related data; (2) generate atelematics broadcast that incorporates the telematics data; (3)broadcast the telematics broadcast in accordance with a periodicrecurring schedule, the telematics data being updated in each telematicsbroadcast to include changes in the acceleration, braking, gyroscope,compass heading, turning, speed, and/or location-related date. Uponbeing received by other vehicles, mobile computing devices, and roadsideinfrastructure, the telematics data may facilitate safer travel forother vehicles or drivers based upon computer analysis of the telematicsdata contained within the broadcast via destination devices associatedwith the respective vehicles, mobile computing devices, and roadsideinfrastructure performing computer analysis of the telematics data.

Furthermore, the travel or traffic event may be based upon or determinedfrom the telematics data or captured image data that reveals that theoriginating vehicle is experiencing abnormal vehicle traffic,congestion, road construction, weather conditions, an anomalous objectposing a risk to a driver, and/or weather conditions.

For instance, the telematics data may include data indicating, forexample, (1) that the originating vehicle is experiencing abnormalvehicle traffic; (2) the originating vehicle is experiencing abnormalvehicle traffic congestion; (3) the originating vehicle is experiencingroad construction; (4) the originating vehicle is experiencing abnormalweather conditions; (5) an anomalous object posing a risk to a driver;(6) current weather conditions associated with the originating vehicle;(7) Global Positioning System GPS speed; (8) GPS geographic coordinates;(9) time; (10) road lane information associated with the originatingvehicle; (11) a battery level of the originating mobile computingdevice; (12) telephone usage associated with the originating mobilecomputing device or the originating vehicle, etc.

Additionally or alternatively, the one or more processors may be furtherconfigured to execute the telematics application to cause theoriginating mobile computing device to periodically listen for abroadcast containing telematics data generated from other vehicles orother mobile computing devices, and upon detecting a broadcast, todownload the broadcast and analyze the telematics data contained thereinfor potential traffic or travel events.

When the telematics data received in a broadcast indicates that atraffic or travel event exists along a route that the originatingvehicle is presently traveling, the one or more processors may cause theoriginating mobile computing device to generate an alert. The mobilecomputing devices may be configured with additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Additional Considerations

With the foregoing, an insurance customer may opt-in to a rewards,insurance discount, or other type of program. After the insurancecustomer provides their affirmative consent, an insurance providertelematics application and/or remote server may collect telematicsand/or other data (including image or audio data) associated withinsured assets, including before, during, and/or after aninsurance-related event or vehicle collision. In return, risk aversedrivers, and/or vehicle owners may receive discounts or insurance costsavings related to auto, home, life, and other types of insurance fromthe insurance provider.

In one aspect, telematics data, and/or other data, including the typesof data discussed elsewhere herein, may be collected or received by aninsured’s mobile device or smart vehicle, a Telematics App (includingthose discussed herein), and/or an insurance provider remote server,such as via direct or indirect wireless communication or datatransmission from a Telematics App running on the insured’s mobiledevice, after the insured or customer affirmatively consents orotherwise opts-in to an insurance discount, reward, or other program.The insurance provider may then analyze the data received with thecustomer’s permission to provide benefits to the customer. As a result,risk averse customers may receive insurance discounts or other insurancecost savings based upon data that reflects low risk driving behaviorand/or technology that mitigates or prevents risk to (i) insured assets,such as vehicles or even homes, and/or (ii) vehicle operators orpassengers.

Although the disclosure provides several examples in terms of twovehicles, two mobile computing devices, two on-board computers, etc.,aspects include any suitable number of mobile computing devices,vehicles, etc. For example, aspects include an external computing devicereceiving telematics data and/or geographic location data from a largenumber of mobile computing devices (e.g., 100 or more), and issuingalerts to those mobile computing devices in which the alerts arerelevant in accordance with the various techniques described herein.

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forthat the end of this patent and equivalents. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may be implemented, usingeither current technology or technology developed after the filing dateof this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware.In hardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain manner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or morehardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus.

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise.

The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intendedto be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless traditionalmeans-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for”or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).

This detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and doesnot describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One may be implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving, by a second mobile computing device associated with a secondvehicle, telematics data generated by one or more sensors associatedwith a first mobile computing device associated with a first vehicle andperiodically broadcast by the first mobile computing device, directing,by the second mobile computing device, a corrective action when anabnormal traffic condition indicated by the telematics data is relevantto the second vehicle, the abnormal traffic condition being a trafficcondition encountered or about to be encountered by the first vehiclebut not yet involving the second vehicle, the relevance being based uponwhether a location of the first vehicle is within a threshold distanceof a current location of the second mobile computing device, and whereinthe corrective action includes at least one of: (i) providing a text orgraphical description of the abnormal traffic condition, and a locationof the abnormal traffic condition, or (ii) affecting driving of thesecond vehicle.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe one or more sensors indicate that the first mobile computing deviceis located within the first vehicle based upon whether the first mobilecomputing device is wirelessly connected to a communication systemassociated with the first vehicle.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more sensors indicate that the first mobilecomputing device is stationary with respect to the first vehicle priorto generating the telematics data.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the abnormal traffic condition is that the firstvehicle is experiencing one or more of high traffic conditions,congestion, road construction, and extreme weather conditions.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the telematics data isindicative of one or more of Global Positioning System (GPS) location,lane information associated with the first vehicle, time, turningassociated with the first vehicle, a battery level associated with thefirst mobile computing device, and telephone usage informationassociated with the first mobile computing device.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the corrective actionincludes generating an alternate travel route via the second mobilecomputing device that avoids the location of the abnormal trafficcondition, and presenting the alternate travel route via a graphic userinterface display.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the periodically broadcasted telematics data is received by aremote server, and then relayed from the remote server to the secondmobile computing device.
 8. A first mobile computing device, comprising:one or more sensors configured to generate telematics data associatedwith an operation of a first vehicle; and a communication unit includinga transceiver, configured to periodically broadcast the generatedtelematics data, wherein the periodically broadcasted telematics data isreceived by a second mobile computing device that is associated with asecond vehicle and results in the second mobile computing devicedirecting a corrective action when an abnormal traffic conditionindicated by the telematics data is relevant to the second vehicle, theabnormal traffic condition being a traffic condition encountered orabout to be encountered by the first vehicle but not yet involving thesecond vehicle, the relevance being based upon whether a location of thefirst vehicle is within a threshold distance of a current location ofthe second mobile computing device, and wherein the corrective actionincludes at least one of: (i) providing a text or a graphicaldescription of the abnormal traffic condition, and a location of theabnormal traffic condition, or (ii) affecting driving of the secondvehicle.
 9. The first mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein theone or more sensors are further configured to indicate that the firstmobile computing device is located within the first vehicle based uponwhether the first mobile computing device is wirelessly connected to acommunication system associated with the first vehicle.
 10. The firstmobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the one or more sensors arefurther configured to indicate that the first mobile computing device isstationary with respect to the first vehicle prior to generating thetelematics data.
 11. The first mobile computing device of claim 8,wherein the abnormal traffic condition indicated by the telematics datais that the first vehicle is experiencing one or more of high trafficconditions, congestion, road construction, and extreme weatherconditions.
 12. The first mobile computing device of claim 8, whereinthe telematics data is indicative of one or more of Global PositioningSystem (GPS) location, lane information associated with the firstvehicle, time, turning associated with the first vehicle, a batterylevel associated with the first mobile computing device, and telephoneusage information associated with the first mobile computing device. 13.The first mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the correctiveaction includes generating an alternate travel route via the secondmobile computing device that avoids the location of the abnormal trafficcondition, and presenting the alternate travel route via a graphic userinterface display.
 14. The first mobile computing device of claim 8,wherein the periodically broadcasted telematics data is received by aremote server, and then relayed from the remote server to the secondmobile computing device.
 15. A system, comprising: a first mobilecomputing device associated with an first vehicle and configured to (i)generate, via one or more sensors associated with the first mobilecomputing device, telematics data associated with an operation of thefirst vehicle, and (ii) periodically broadcast the generated telematicsdata; and a second mobile computing device that is associated with asecond vehicle and configured to (i) receive the periodicallybroadcasted telematics data, and (ii) direct a corrective action when anabnormal traffic condition indicated by the telematics data is found tobe relevant to the second vehicle, the abnormal traffic condition beinga traffic condition encountered or about to be encountered by the firstvehicle but not yet involving the second vehicle, the relevance beingbased upon whether a location of the first vehicle, as indicated by thetelematics data, is within a threshold distance of a current location ofthe second mobile computing device, wherein corrective action includesat least one of: (i) providing a text or graphical description of theabnormal traffic condition, and a location of the location of theabnormal traffic condition, or (ii) affecting driving of the secondvehicle.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein: the one or more sensorsassociated with the first mobile computing device indicate that thefirst mobile computing device is located within the first vehicle basedupon whether the first mobile computing device is wirelessly connectedto a communication system associated with the first vehicle, and the oneor more sensors associated with the first mobile computing deviceindicate that the first mobile computing device is stationary withrespect to the first vehicle prior to generating the telematics data.17. The system of claim 15, wherein the abnormal traffic conditionindicated by the telematics data is that the first vehicle isexperiencing one or more of high traffic conditions, congestion, roadconstruction, and extreme weather conditions.
 18. The system of claim15, wherein the telematics data is indicative of one or more of GlobalPositioning System (GPS) location, lane information associated with thefirst vehicle, time, turning associated with the first vehicle, abattery level associated with the first mobile computing device, andtelephone usage information associated with the first mobile computingdevice.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the corrective actionincludes generating an alternate travel route that avoids the locationof the abnormal traffic condition, and to presenting the alternatetravel route via the GUI display.
 20. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: a remote server configured to receive the periodicallybroadcasted telematics data, and to relay the periodically broadcastedtelematics data to the second mobile computing device.